


will you stay with me?

by fearlesswind



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gay Keith (Voltron), Getting Together, M/M, Making Out, Marriage Proposal, Mentions of Sex, Minor Acxa/Veronica (Voltron), Minor Curtis/Shiro (Voltron), Mutual Pining, Past Allura/Lance (Voltron), Post-Canon Fix-It, Rough Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-01-15 12:13:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 48,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18498754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fearlesswind/pseuds/fearlesswind
Summary: “Lance you have to let go” He tightens the hold on her hand “I know you’re scared and you’re still hurting. But you have to move on. Continue with your life, I can’t bear seeing you like this”“I can’t” He chanted over and over again “I can’t do it, I’m not strong enough” Allura steps even closer to him, her head resting over his chest. He wraps his arms around her, too scared that the princess might disappear any second now. Lance nuzzles his face on her neck, trying to stop the tears “I’m scared of forgetting about you.”we may fall and sometimes get hurt, but will you stay with me?





	1. Part One

He will never get used to the Altean marks etched on his face. The way they stretch along his cheeks and how they light up make his insides turn. It just reminds him of Allura. Every time he feels a tingle he’s reminded by her. Of her beautiful face and stunning hair; Of her kind and compassionate eyes; But also of her sad smile directed at him just as she vanished. 

Living in a world without Allura is tougher than he thought. He sometimes wishes he would go back to his Garrison days; a moment were all of Voltron was nothing to him. But that could never be. His heartache is a reminder of that. 

“It’s already a month huh” Romelle whispers right beside him. They’re sitting at an open field, watching as the new Castle of Lions comes to life right before them. It’s a beautiful day he thinks, the junyberries are on full bloom and the sky is brighter than ever. It would’ve been a perfect day if it weren’t for that terrible reminder. 

“Yeah” Romelle turns to him, eyes glistening with unshed tears and he can only offer her a watery smile. Coran is somewhere around the castle, probably ordering around a bunch of Alteans. He wonders how would Allura feel with all of these changes. She would probably roll her eyes but laugh along with them as she retells stories about her home planet. 

It’s horrible to think that Lance can enjoy of this new Altea, while Allura turned into cosmic dust. It’s horrible. 

“You think Allura would’ve liked this?” Romelle turns to look back at the horizon. Lance doesn’t have to turn to know that the blonde Altean is crying now. 

“She would’ve loved it” Tears stream down his face as well, but he doesn’t bother brushing them away. 

What a horrible reminder. 

 

* * *

 

A flash of blue, purple and white collides in his vision. It’s a mix between nausea and a terrible fear gripping at his heart. It starts all at once and before he puts a name to it he’s back on Red’s cockpit. His lungs are aching for oxygen, eyes flying open instantly. He doesn’t recognize anything for a few seconds, just a wave of concern flooding him. Red is calling out to him, surely demanding answers but he hardly knows what happened. What was going on? 

Lance took in a deep breath, his heart sizing on his chest. His teammates, where were they? What in the world? He concentrated again. What they were doing? They…they were looking for Honerva. Jumping between realities to reach her. They meet the Paladins of old. And then they…they defeated Honerva. How did that come to be? How did-

_Allura_

Fear shots like adrenaline in his being, hands scrambling over the panel. He’s shaking but somehow manages to call Blue. He’s praying to every deity, to anything out there to some sort of miracle. The memories of what happened flashed in his mind, but no,no,nonono- they couldn’t be true. It’s not true, that didn’t happen. 

There’s a weird itch over his cheeks, but he trudges on calling out to Blue with every fiber of his body. The call is processing and those are the worst seconds of his life. Was the rest of the team safe? Did they need help? He couldn’t hear them but he just needed to see. Needed to be sure that Allura was right there with them. 

_Please, please I’m begging you. Don’t take her away from me._

The call goes through and Lance’s eyes dart over to the pilot seat.

Empty.

There’s no one there. No traces of no one being there. The shaking becomes worse, heart sinking. No this is not happening, this is all a bad dream. He calls out to Blue once again, demanding answers. Maybe Allura was playing a trick, a very cruel trick on them. She’ll appear out of nowhere and surprise them with a flurry of magic ‘Got you guys!’ She would say. 

But nothing happens. There’s not flash of bright colors. Not a mischievous giggle. Nothing.

No Allura. 

The tears are coming out of his eyes faster and faster. There’s a mix of crying and silence coming from his helmet and he knows the rest of the team has come to. He scrambles out of his seat, collapsing on the floor, his legs trembling too much for him to stand. He fumbles with his helmet, barely able to get it off. It’s horrible, this is horrible, he doesn’t want this. 

He throws the helmet away with everything he can muster. The visor definitely cracks as it collides with Red’s panel. Was this some sick joke? After everything they went through, after everything they had fought for. This is how the universe repays them? Taking Allura away from them, from the team, from her new friends, from him, from Coran…

A sob ripples out from his very being. And then another and another. They keep coming, never stopping as his vision blurs. He curls in Red’s cockpit, his tears mixing with the dust covering the floor. It’s horrible. He hates this. Red and Blue both reach out to him but he really doesn’t know what he should do. This scenario had played in his mind countless of time before they returned to space. He knew it would be horrible, grief and loss mixing in. But this is worse. Worse than anything he could ever imagine. 

He wishes he was dead. 

He wishes he had gone with Allura, turn into cosmic dust along with her. 

What a horrible thought. 

Suddenly he was being pulled up from the floor and forced to sit. Arms circle around his back as his face collided with someone’s armor. Lance doesn’t think about it and returns the hug. He nestles his face over the person’s chest and continues to cry without a care. 

“It’s okay, let it out” Keith murmurs against his ear “Lance, it’s okay” He brushes his hair and Lance tightens his hold. He continues to cry and the Black paladin never stops comforting him. Before he notices, Pidge and Hunk also enter the cockpit. They all hug each other, their tears mixing with each other as they continue to cry out their agony. 

This was miserable. 

 

* * *

 

Lance wakes up with a choked gasp, scrambling for air as he sits up in his bed. Where was he? What in the world was happening? The Galra, was he captured by the Galra? The team, Allura- 

There’s a soft click and the room comes into view. He’s back in his room, the one in Cuba. He’s sprawled all over his bed, blue sheets rumpled and thrown all around. His shark plushie pushed to the floor in his sleep. He recognizes his posters and photos plastered all over his blue room. Clothes and souvenirs were scattered around the floor and his desk. 

Someone moves right in front of him and he instantly tenses up. His Bayard is in his hand before he notices it.

A hand quickly wraps around his and Lance gasps, vision clouding and head swirling. He was captured, he was captured, he was captured-

“Are you okay Lance?” 

Keith’s voice breaks through his panic. Lance looks up and instantly recognizes the Black Paladin looming over him, face twisted in worry. Gasping out in relief, he slackens at the familiar presence in front of him. He could faintly hear Kosmo’s breaths coming from somewhere in the room and wonders when had Keith gotten here. 

“Hey” He focuses back on his friend’s face “Did you have another nightmare?” Keith carefully places his left hand over by his cheek, bringing some sense of comfort to him. 

“I- I um I’m not sure” It was the truth. He can hardly remember what he was dreaming or how he had gotten into bed. His mind was fuzzy and he couldn’t piece anything together anymore. It’s almost as if Keith senses his confusion as he draws closer, foreheads almost touching “What-“ 

“Is everyone all right?” Hunk appears by his door. The yellow paladin looks shaken up, eyes quickly inspecting the two of them, before breathing in relief “I was awake and I heard screaming” 

“Screaming?” Lance inquires. He carefully touches his throat, finally noticing the soreness of his voice. Hunk winces and enters the room, quietly closing the door behind him. He approaches them in the bed and crouches down in front of him. 

“Do you want to talk about it buddy?” 

“I don’t even- I don’t remember any of it” The words tumble out of his mouth. His friends exchange concerned looks but neither one of them pipes up. Lance closes his eyes, not sure if he wants to remember the dreams or not. His mind’s been playing tricks on him the past few days and quite honestly he doesn’t know what is real or not. 

“Lance” Keith pipes up “Do you know where we are?” 

He pauses and then looks up at his friends, suddenly tense. Gulping down his nerves he blinks once, twice before responding. 

“In my room. My house in Cuba, right?” 

“Yes we’re in Cuba man” Hunk gives him a happy smile, slowly inching forward, as if to not startle him. He’s not some kind of animal, is he? Lance wants to ask when Keith tightens the hold of his hand. He turns to his leader and friend, confused at the amount of grief and worry over his face. 

“Do you remember what happened a few days ago?” 

“Days ago?” Lance asks, his friend only nodding in response. A few days ago? What was he doing? His mind is blank, nothing important comes to mind. He feels a soft throb coming from his face and honestly what was going on?

With the tip of his fingers he brushes his right hand over the itch. He completely stops as he feels a triangle-like shape etched around cheeks.

_What?_

A soft blue light brights up the edge of his vision. Is he glowing or something? He looks down at his body but everything looks fine. Everything the same as it is. Then why was he still seeing blue? His breath shortens, lungs starting to collapse in a matter of seconds. 

“Buddy, buddy, buddy you have to breathe” Hunk instructs him “Hold it in 8 seconds, exhale 7 seconds, yes like that buddy” 

Somehow he manages to even out his breathing, heartbeat slowing down just a tiny bit. The blue light is still there but he manages to stay calm. He concentrates on Kosmo’s slow breathing, his mind clearing up. The memories of a few days ago were still locked somewhere in his mind, he had to find something- 

He catches a glimpse of himself on a mirror by his nightstand. Before any of his friends move, Lance stands up from the bed, taking the mirror with his hands. With no hesitation he looks at himself and almost drops the mirror in surprise. 

Hair unkept and twisted in every single direction; Eyes red rimmed, at loss of their usual happy and out-going vibe; Skin almost gaunt; He looks exhausted. Horrible. But that’s not what catches his sight. It’s the Altean marks engraved over his cheeks. They are glowing, emitting a soft blue light over his face.

_What in the fuck?_

“What the fuck?” He whispers to himself, hands trembling, barely able to hold on to the mirror “What the fuck are these?!” 

“Lance” Keith is by his side in an instant. He tries to pry of the mirror from his hands, but Lance is stubborn “Lance look at me” 

“Keith what are these?” Passing a hand through the marks, he feels nothing at the touch. They keep glowing and he doesn’t know if he’s relieved or not. Hunk stands up from his position, walking over to them and suddenly he can’t concentrate “Why do I- Why are these things in my face?” 

Hunk quickly envelops him in a hug. Lance isn’t sure if that’s what he needs at the moment.

“Allura gave them to you” At the mention of the princess his voice breaks. Lance frowns in confusion. Allura gave them to him? Why? How did she gave them to him? Last time he checked, he was perfectly normal and the princess wasn’t etching some marks over his face. That didn’t make any sense. 

“What?” Lance tries to detangle from Hunk’s embrace but it's futile “Allura didn’t tattoo these things on my face. Why would se do that? You know what I’m gonna call and directly ask her, I’m sure-“

Suddenly he hears Hunk crying. He stops rambling, shocked at the moment. The Yellow Paladin tightens his embrace, burying his face in his neck, starting to cry even harder. Lance’s instincts to comfort him kick in right away, as he returns the hug in a heartbeat. 

“Hunk, don’t cry buddy” Hunk cries even harder “I mean they aren’t the prettiest things but it’s not worth to cry over them” Lance turns to Keith and the sight also leaves him rooted to the spot. 

The Black Paladin has his eyes locked on to the floor, arms crossed over his chest and hunched all over. A few tears are rolling down his cheeks, but he doesn’t bother to wipe them away. To see Hunk crying was one thing, but Keith crying? Keith crying was unforgivable. 

“Keith, buddy, no, no, no-” He tries reaching out to his friend “Okay they’re ugly but don’t cry” Keith doesn’t move, crying more intensely and biting his lip enough to draw blood. This sends him into a panic mode. Did something else happen? Was he forgetting something? 

There’s a rumble coming from deep inside of him that makes him stop. It’s similar to Red’s thoughts but it doesn’t feel like his lion. He concentrates a bit more and feels the wave of grief crashing over him. That’s definitely not Red.

It feels familiar but nostalgic in a sense. Who is it? 

A roar echoes inside of his head, his eyes widening in recognition. 

 _Blue._  

It was Blue. It had to be her. He tried calling out to her and the lion responded instantly. It felt different from all those years ago, meeting half way. Lance still felt the deep care and devotion his former lion felt for him, but all of that was overshadowed by an enormous sorrow. He knew if the lions had tear ducts, Blue would be inconsolable. What happened? 

Flashes appear before his eyes. Of him; of the team; of Allura.

It seems like they were involved in some kind of fight. A similar mecha to Voltron was fighting against them. Everyone on the team was there, the crew of the Atlas as well. They were jumping through time and space, chasing something. Chasing someone. 

All of the sudden he can see the team huddled together, Honerva right in front of them. None of them sprung into action and just watched her. The Paladins of Old along with Prince Lotor appeared right then and there. Something wasn’t right. He could almost sense it just as Allura took a step forward, away from the team. 

The princess started exchanging embraces with each and everyone of them.

_Wait._

Allura got to him and that’s when it sunk in. 

_No, no, no._

His knees buckled, almost sending him to the floor if it weren’t for Hunk. His best friend called out for him, Keith by their side in a flash. But Lance couldn’t hear them, couldn’t focus of any of them. He brushed the Altean marks on his cheeks, still glowing, still present. 

The tears flowed instantly, a sob ripping out of his throat. He buried his face on Hunk’s chest, hugging him with everything he could muster. His friend returned the embrace just as tightly, crying alongside with him. 

“Allura” Lance cried out her name. He could remember their kiss, the smile she gave him, the burn of his cheeks. What a cruel thing to do. 

 

* * *

 

“Are you sure you will be okay?” Hunk asks once more. Lance exhales, already having this conversation with him a thousand times. He doesn’t know if he should feel annoyed or thankful for a friend like Hunk. 

“For the last time, I’ll be fine buddy!” He reassures him, patting his back. He shoves a small lunchbox into his hands “Come on we talked about this already. You’ll be a great help for the Coalition. Here my mom sends you a batch of her famous garlic knots for your travel” 

“But Lance!” The Yellow Paladin protests, placing the lunchbox along with the rest of his luggage “I know you and I know you lie when you’re not really fine! We won’t be able to talk to each other all the time now. What if you need me and I can’t because I’m in some sort of meeting and then I-“

“Okay I’m gonna stop you there” Lance interrupts him “I appreciate your company for the last three months. I swear Hunk, you’re one of my best friends. But you have to live your life!” Crossing his arms over his chest, he frowns at his friend “You can’t waste these opportunities man!” 

“ _Lance_ ” Hunk rubs his forehead. He frowns at his friend’s hesitation. 

“ _Hunk_ ” He mockingly answers “I’m sure we’ll call each other every day, don’t worry about that!” 

His friend doesn’t answer right away, eyes trained on the luggage in front of him. Lance knew Hunk wanted this opportunity. He knew that his friend wanted to go with the Coalition, continue his work through the galaxy. He knew that. But Lance also knew that Hunk wouldn’t live with himself if something happened to him. 

Persuading him that he was fine was a complete fucking lie and it wasn’t as if Hunk couldn’t see right through it. After living together at the Garrison, all of their time at the Castle of Lions, traveling in the Atlas and the last three months in his house, Hunk could easily tell when something was bothering him. Lance could offer himself to go back to the Atlas with him. But that would be worse.

He wasn’t ready to face space just yet. Nightmares and restless nights still plagued his memories constantly and he doubted it would get better if he traveled back to the Atlas. He knew they would only get worse. 

Shiro’s plan was obviously to huddle them both back into the Atlas. Maybe that way he could asses with his own eyes that they were fine. Or well, physically fine. Lance doubts he could ever be emotionally fine.

Keith was already there back in the Atlas. But the Black Paladin visited them almost every day thanks to Kosmo that it felt as if he wasn’t gone at all. Romelle and Coran were off to new Altea; He seriously didn’t know where Pidge was. Probably with her family; and that only left him and Hunk. 

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t go. 

“You really don’t want to go?” Hunk asks, eyes pleading. The silence after is answer enough. Lance turns his head away, not bothering to even look at his friend in the eyes. They stay like that for some time, neither of them speaking up nor moving. 

There’s a sudden knock at the front door, snapping them both out of the moment. 

“Uh?” Lance exchanges a baffled look with his friend. He gives his living room a quick glance. He was sure that everyone of his family was asleep. Besides, who could be knocking at four in the morning? “It’s open?” 

“What a lack of security I tell you” Someone mutters and he recognizes the voice right away. The door is opened, revealing Pidge in a green hoodie and gray pants. She stands at the front door, neutral face and her hair as wild as ever. She has an enormous duffle bag slung across her back and a suitcase at her left “You should install at least an alarm, someone could easily break in here. I can install it and everything I would just need-“

“Pidge!” Hunk cries out, hugging her right off the ground. The girl squeaks in protest, her feet quacking in the air but to no avail. Lance chuckles at the interaction. He was instantly reminded of a moment similar to when they were studying at the Garrison. 

“Put me down!” Pidge hits Hunk’s arm but he’s still spinning her “I’m gonna punch you Hunk! I swear on my fucking life!”  
“You kiss your mother with that mouth? One dollar in the swear jar” Pidge gives him the finger and he can’t help the chuckle out of him. Hunk finally places the girl back on the floor, giving her a small pat on the head. The Green Paladin slaps the hand away, turning back to Lance. 

“What you’re not gonna hug me?” She demands, extending her arms in the air, surely demanding attention. 

“Do you want me to?” 

“Come on you asshole, I haven’t seen you in ages” Pidge comments and Lance can’t deny her that. He quickly walks, hugging her right of the floor as well. The girl wraps her tiny arms around him and doesn’t complain when her feet don’t touch the ground. 

There’s a comfortable silence settling over them as he feels her rubbing at his back. It soothes him at the instant, but he doesn’t tell her that. 

“I missed you Pidgeotto” He smiles at nothing in particular as Pidge holds him even tighter. 

“I missed you too”

Hunk laughs and Lance knows he’s about to start crying at the spot. He settles the girl back down on the floor, and looks back at his friend. Pidge doesn’t move from her spot next to him and even nudges a bit closer. Hunk then coos at the two of them before hugging them both. The girl squeaks in protest, punching both of them to get free. A warm feeling spreads through his chest and he feels transported back into the first training days in the Garrison. Like the first time the tree of them became an official team. It almost brings tears to his eyes. 

They part and the Yellow Paladin sniffs into his sweater, wiping away the tears. Pidge grumbles, muttering at herself as she combs her hair and adjusts her hoodie. Lance chuckles once more, it’s been so long since they were together, just the three of them. He frowns and then turns to the girl.

“Pidge, not that I don’t enjoy your company or anything but, what are you doing here?” 

While it is true that he doesn’t mind the company (of anyone really) at all, Pidge traveling all the way to Varadero isn’t something he expected on a Wednesday. Last he heard from Keith no one really knew where Pidge was or if she was even on Earth. It wouldn’t surprise him if she ended up holed up in the Garrison Lab and no one actually found her. 

“I uh-” The girl tenses but still turns towards him “I came to keep you company” 

“Keep me company?” 

“Yeah” Nodding her head, she pats to the bag and suitcase she brought along “Hunk’s leaving for the Atlas and I thought you would want another friend to drop by” 

His heart squeezes in his chest as the information sinks in.

Pidge gives him a small smile and Lance had to really fight back the tears this time. He knew the girl had to resolve more important matters or even then spend quality time with her family. But she was here, somehow, asking if she could drop by? Pidge would really do that for him? 

“Thank you” His voice breaks somewhere in between. A wet laugh releases from his mouth and that’s when he feels Pidge hugging him by the waist. He doesn’t hesitate and hugs her back. The girl is slightly shaking and Lance doesn’t want to shatter the moment “Thank you” 

“Don’t thank me dumbass” She responds “We stick with each other, right?” 

He doesn’t know what he did to deserve any of his friends. 

 

* * *

 

A beep coming from the kitchen is what wakes him up from his nap. Lance slowly blinks back into existence, his back immediately hurting from the odd position he had slept in the couch. It’s somewhere around one in the morning or so. He yawns, carefully stretching his arms and legs, recovering movement and bringing himself back to life. 

He settles back down into the couch, ignoring the need to get up and move towards his bed. He can see Nadia and Sylvio’s toys thrown around the floor in the living room. Luis must’ve picked them up earlier in the night. There are a couple of sheets, colors flying all around them. He chuckles to himself as he recognizes Sylvio’s drawing of Red in one of the papers. 

There’s another beep from the kitchen but he ignores it. Blue eyes drift over to the small center table right in front of him. A vase with all kinds of blue flowers rest on the middle (a gift from Keith to his mom), a rosary and a small wooden crux rest in front of it and around six picture frames settled there. One picture is of all of the family before Abuelo Raúl and Abuela Immelda passed away; There’s another one from when Veronica was sent off to the Garrison; One from Luis’ wedding; The next from Rachel’s quinceañera; A picture of Marco before he left for Spain; and the last one is a photo of himself in front of the Red Lion with all of the family and team Voltron.

Lance smiles at the memory. How much of a hassle it was to convince both Keith and Pidge to appear in the photo and how he basically had to push Shiro into the frame so he wouldn’t feel embarrassed. Allura didn’t know the purpose of taking the picture but she had smiled nonetheless when the flash went off. He traces his fingers over the frame, drowning in the memory. 

Once more a beep echoes across the room.

He frowns, lifting up his head a little bit. There’s light coming from the kitchen, but last time he checked the only ones in the house were him, Pidge and the kids. And if Luis really picked them up, then the only ones here were Pidge and him. He chuckled, no way in hell would Pidge stand in the kitchen, not even five meters near from it. 

Groaning he sits up, head throbbing at the sudden movement. He stands up and heads towards the kitchen, tiptoeing to avoid making any sort of noise. He’s curious enough if Pidge was really in the kitchen or if he had simply left the lights on. But then that wouldn’t explain all of the noise. 

He peeks his head inside and finds the Green Paladin in all of her glory, pressing all sorts of buttons on his stove. There’s a red light flashing and the beep echoes once more. Pidge groans, hair up in every direction as she tries punching another set of buttons onto the machine. 

“This isn’t working!” She’s annoyed now, trying to make it stop as best as she can “Hunk your instructions aren’t working!” 

“It’s because you pressed the heat thermometer before you turned it on!” The Yellow Paladin’s voice echoes from somewhere in the room. Lance peeks even closer and he can see Pidge’s phone flashing with a series of faces on the surface. They are probably talking over by the phone or something. 

“This a disaster” She moaned to herself, the stove blaring another beep into the kitchen “I’m gonna burn his kitchen down I just know it” 

“Pidge you can literally build a robot and you can’t turn a stove on?” Keith’s voice pipes up from the phone as well “Have you tried searching the manual?” 

“Of course why didn’t I think of that Keith! His stove is like fucking thirty years old!” She groans once more. The girl tries another sets of buttons but nothing works. 

“Have you tried switching it off?” Keith pipes up once again. Lance literally wonders how in the world did his friend survive out in the desert, alone, for who know how long. 

“Don’t turn it off Pidge!” Hunk yells and there’s a clutter of plates and pans coming from his end “This isn’t a computer!” 

“Shut it!” She shushes them, the two of them immediately calming down “Lance’s sleeping dumbasses! And I’m not going to turn it off, we’ll die if I do that” 

Hunk sighs in relief and he can hear Keith mutter under his breath. There’s another beep until Pidge pushes another button and it suddenly stops. The red light disappears as well, and the stove starts working as normal. The girl sighs in relief, almost collapsing on the floor from it. 

“I don’t know what I just did but it’s working now” It feels like she could start crying from happiness. 

“Don’t touch anything else until Lance wakes up” Lance can picture Hunk’s scolding face, he had faced that one too many times “We don’t want you to burn his house down” 

“Okay mom!” She draws out the word, until she giggles to herself “So after this do I have to add something else?” 

“Just a pinch of salt and butter. You can add parmesan cheese as well if you want” Hunk advises and then giggles “Lance is going to flip when he sees them” That piqued his interest. Something for him? Was Pidge cooking something for him? 

“I hope he likes them or else I’m gonna shove them down his throat“ She warns, dramatically dragging a hand over her face. He chuckles to himself. Sure Pidge wasn’t that great in the kitchen but she couldn’t be that bad. Rachel almost poisoned him back when they were eight, it can’t be worse. 

“Did you tell him already?” Keith voice pipes up. The demeanor of the girl changes instantly, her care-free attitude is replaced by worry. Lance frowns at the change. Was there something he had to know? Something Pidge had to tell him? 

“I-I haven’t” She admits, head bowing low “I always freeze before I tell him. I planned on telling him today but he fell asleep. I don’t want to wake him up, it’s the most sleep he’s gotten in the past two weeks” 

Lance bites his lip, wondering if he should intrude or not. The nightmares had been getting worse lately and more often than not he found himself sleeping only around two hours, his body collapsing form exhaustion. Pidge always woke him up whenever he was crying or screaming and never said anything. He usually couldn’t go back to sleep after that. 

“Has he been taking the meds?” Keith asks, concern lacing through his voice. 

“He has” She breathes “But they always make him moody and exhausted. I don’t think they are working properly. The other pills at least helped him sleep more” 

The doctor’s prescription is something he’s been trying to avoid as well. He knows the pills help him; he knows they will make him better eventually.

But he hates them.

He hates taking them three times a day; He always feels the need to throw up after they enter his mouth; and he can’t deal with the mood swings. They are too sudden, too horrible to experience. He knows they will help him, but that doesn’t mean he likes them. 

“We should take him to the doctor again then” Keith concludes, a sense of finality through his tone “But before that, you need to talk to him” 

“I know, I know, it’s just…” Pidge breathes, a hand passing through her hair. She pinches her nose, concentrating on this mystery topic “I don’t want to leave him here” 

Leave him here? 

“It’s his hometown, he’s like a fish in the water here. But I feel like if I leave him here, Lance won’t come back” She confesses almost chocking on her words. Hunk and Keith both stay silent, not daring to interrupt her “I know that’s just a fear of mine, but I know he will push me to take the chance. He doesn’t want to worry anyone but-“ A sniffle breaks through her speech and she grumbles in annoyance. 

Lance presses his lips together, Pidge’s sniffles echoing in head one after the other. 

He wanted to avoid exactly this situation. He wasn’t dumb, he knew Pidge was very much needed back at the Garrison and the Atlas. She was fusing Olkarion and Altean technology, a breakthrough in the scientific field if he dare say it. It was obvious she needed to leave, maybe even wanted to do so since she stepped in his home those three months ago. But he can’t force her to stay in Cuba if she needs to do something else. Something more fulfilling. 

“Pidge” He calls out, voice raspy and eyes clouded. The girl stops immediately, body stiff as a rock. Neither one fo them speak, and the phone stays silent as well. His eyes never stray from her figure, tongue tied and unable to breathe a single word. 

“I’ll call you guys later” The Green Paladin says and before Hunk or Keith could protest she finishes the call. The ticking of the clock vibrates across the room but they continue to only stare at each other. 

“Pidgeon what is going on?” He asks, carefully stepping into the kitchen. The girl stiffens at the question, eyes dropping to the floor. Her hands are fidgeting, fighting to sit still at her sides. It reminds him of all of those years ago when Pidge would long to tinker with any sort of machine back in the Castle of Lions. 

“I-I” The words die on her mouth, the tears spilling over her eyes. Lance steps forward, hugging her without question. The girl stills for a moment before throwing her arms around him as well. 

“Pidge it’s okay. I knew you’d be called sooner or later. Every engineer and technician is pretty lost without you back in the Atlas” The girl buries her head deep into his chest, not responding. He sighs and combs her hair with his fingers. It’s getting longer since she came to Cuba. 

“But I don’t want to leave you” She cries, her grip tightening against him “I know everyone wants you to come with me, but I can’t ask that of you” 

He stills, the request processing in his mind. Lance is no fool and he’s sure that once again Shiro requesting Pidge’s assistance back on the Atlas is practically a call for him to go with her. Ever since Hunk left he’s been rolling the idea around. He still isn’t sure if that’s where he wants to go or not, but he hates seeing his friends like this. 

“I’ll come” Pidge snaps her eyes up to him “I’ll go, don’t worry about me Pidge” 

“No you’re just coming because you’re forcing yourself” She shakes her head, already against the idea. She wipes away her tears before continuing “I want you to come with me Lance don’t get me wrong. Nothing will make me happier than to see you with everyone else-“ 

“Then I’ll go” He insists, but Pidge growls in frustration. 

“This isn’t about what I want or not Lance!” She yells. Lance doesn’t move from his spot and just grimaces about what’s to come “It’s what you want to do! Not what Shiro, Hunk or Keith want! Not even what I want!” 

The words die on his mouth, head twisting and turning with the question.

What does he want? What does he really want to do?

For starters, he doesn’t want to have this conversation. Secondly he wants to crawl up in his bed and never leave again. Third maybe he wants to satisfy that itch of not doing enough by going to the Garrison. Next he wants to probably not wake up tomorrow. Or the day after that. And lastly he wants…

He wants to see Allura. 

Lance releases a shuddering breath, body shaking with the force of it. Pidge keeps her eyes on him, frowning as neither one of them speak. He’s still unsure of what to say or do. He seriously doesn’t know what decision is the right one or which one will bring him some peace of mind. 

“I’ll go with you” He insists. The girl’s frown deepens, mouth opening but he interrupts “Whatever I say won’t convince you, I know. But I really don’t know what is that I want to do yet” 

Pidge closes her mouth, eyes inspecting his face. Lance doesn’t waver, looking back at her head on. 

“I don’t know if what’s the right choice. I don’t know if I should stay here or try going to the Garrison. But if I don’t try I’ll never be sure” That much is true. Regardless of where he is, whether is with his family or at the Garrison with the rest of the team, the constant ache in his heart still lingers. Might as well change scenery. 

“Are you sure?” The girl steps closer, lips drawn together, hands folding within each other. 

“I’m not” He sighs “But what else can I do? 

The girl nods, hair messing up even more. She buries her face into his chest once more, hugging his sides and breathing in deeply. Lance does the same, eyes closing as the both of them start to sway from one side to the other. 

Might as well try.

 

* * *

 

“Lance are you sure you’re all right?” Colleen Holt appears in front of him, pouting as she takes in his disheveled appearance. The boy groans, head thumping onto the desk right in front of him. He’s sure he grabbed the dirty uniform from his closet. Stupid clock not reminding him to wake up. 

“Good morning to you too Colleen” He mutters, his voice muffled from the table. There’s a constant throb in his mind that is clearly not letting him focus at all. He should’ve eaten something before he left his room earlier today “To what do I owe the pleasure?” 

“I wanted to check up on you” The woman says, clear worry laced in her voice “Considering you passed out yesterday during your lesson. I thought you were forced to take a rest” 

“Ugh it was nothing I swear” Suddenly he collapses in one of his classes and everyone goes bonkers. But at the same time if he saw someone like Shiro or Iverson passing out in front of him, he probably would’ve freaked out too. 

He really thought nothing was wrong. The day started as usual. Morning drills with the rest of the crew, breakfast with the team, classes from morning to afternoon with his students, flight drills, dinner and then sleeping. But for some reason his body yesterday just didn’t want to cooperate with him. Ever since he woke up he had been feeling numb all over. Honestly he didn’t even know if that was normal or not. 

Hunk and Pidge had noticed and tried to convince him to take the day off, but nothing he couldn’t handle right? Well before he knew it, at the second hour of his classes, he suddenly just blacked out. One minute he was explaining how the lions worked as a flight machine and the next he was on the floor. The next time he regained consciousness he was at the hospital wing, Veronica and the team by his side. 

The doctors told him he collapsed from exhaustion. Apparently he’d been overworking himself for the past two months or so. According to them he had to rest for at least two weeks.

No way in hell.

What was he going to do in such time? Wallow in self pity and depression?  _No señor._  

It was somewhat…true to some extent. Ever since he came to the Garrison with Pidge, it was work, work and work all day long. Running from one side to the other to conduct experiments, check on the new recruits, be the new pilot instructor, etc. It was probably the most productive months of his life. 

Thinking back on it now, maybe they weren’t the best of decisions. Lance was only assigned as the new instructor for the young cadets, and sometimes in charge of the flight simulations. And yet, he took in more tasks that weren’t even involved in his field. Being a teacher all in all was pretty exhausting, his students were a handful bunch. That didn’t mean he didn’t love them but honestly they were always going on and on with theories and questions regarding Voltron. 

But at the same time, he couldn’t sit still. Because sitting still meant thinking; thinking lead to remembering. 

And remembering always ended up in Allura.

He was not up for another crying session. 

The same thing occurred with sleeping. Whenever he did, Allura would plague his dreams. Taunting him, relishing in the fact that she wasn’t with them anymore. The worst part was waking up, instantly knowing that what he’d just seen was just a mere illusion. He limited himself to sleep three to four hours. 

“Are you sure?” Colleen Holt frowns, stepping closer to inspect him. Typical mother behavior “I don’t want you overworking yourself again young man.” 

“Colleen I swear I’m fine” He insists, an easy smile gracing his lips “I just needed a few hours of sleep that’s all” 

“You need a week worth of sleep believe me” Matt Holt strolls in the room, hair messed up in all directions along a bit of oil over his nose and cheeks “I’ve been watching you McClain and sleeping at four only to wake up at seven it’s not healthy for anybody” 

“You’re the one to talk. You haven’t been sleeping for the past two days because of Chip” 

“Hey he doesn’t have anything to do with this!” Matt points at him, crowding his personal space. Lance clearly sees the bags underneath his eyes along with the grease accumulating in his hair “I’ll have you know that we finally managed to attach the hip to it’s spine.” 

“I know I heard you and Pidge’s screams all the way from the laboratory” He sighs, rubbing off the tiredness from his eyes. Damn maybe he did need a nap after all. 

“Lance you should really go to sleep” Colleen insists. Lance shakes his head and in that moment his legs give out, bucking underneath him. There’s a gasp but before he collides on the ground, someone took a hold of him.

“You’re practically falling asleep as we speak” Matt groans next to him. The boy grunts in discomfort and somehow manages to stand him upright once more “What did I tell you? He’s going to kill himself again. We don’t want a bunch of twelve year olds crying because their teacher passed out” 

“Don’t touch me, I’m fine” Lance tries to pry off Matt’s hold on him but it was futile, his fatigue winning. The bright lights of the lab were really bothering him now, a dull throb pounded his head. Okay, new plan take a nap and hope you don’t die. 

“Lance if you don’t sleep now you won’t get a piece of my apple tart ever again” His eyes fly open, looking at Colleen. The woman crossed her arms over her chest, hip jutting out, sending him a fierce glare. She was the vivid image of his mom whenever she scolded him. 

“Wow this is a new level of threats coming from you mom” Matt laughs. His mother turns her glare to him and he immediately quiets down. 

“Do you want me to take away your apple tart privileges too mister?” 

“No ma’am!” The boy straightens up in a second. Lance dangles from the hold on his arms, head lolling to the side, his body slowly shutting out. It was getting harder and harder to open his eyes. He was pretty tempted to just lay on the floor and sleep there for the rest of the day. 

“Take Lance to his room and make sure to lock the door so he doesn’t escape” Colleen commands and Matt doesn’t hesitate. The boy drags him away of the lab and into the Garrison halls. The noise is louder now, the hall surely packed with students, generals and the like. 

Matt groans to himself, as he tries to drag him down the hall but his feet now don’t even respond. He’s about to topple over when another set of arms catch him. Lance doesn’t register the conversation going on above him, content enough to sleep between these two people holding him. 

There’s a soft hum before he’s being handed from one person to the other. Lance is barely able to move around and goes as he’s tossed around. It’s until he feels being draped over someone’s back that he registers the position. Suddenly he’s lifted up and Lance knows he’s being given a piggy back ride. 

Chuckling, he drapes his arms across the mysterious person’s neck, head burrowing deep into their back. A laugh erupts from the person carrying him as they tightened their hold on him. Slowly he opens his eyes and is met with a ponytail full of raven dark hair. 

“Keith?” He mumbles his friend’s name, not sure if he’s the one carrying him around or not. 

“Hm?” The person in question hums, slowly turning their head to look at him. Sure enough there’s Keith Kogane, a worried smile pulling his lips. Lance quietly chuckles to himself, the doubt of who was carrying him melting away instantly. 

“You’re carrying me” He giggles, eyes closing once more as he focuses on nothing. He can hear small whispers and chatter, probably from the other Garrison students and teacher at their display. But he doesn’t care in the very least about them. Lance thinks he could easily fall asleep like this, nightmares disappearing in a blink of an eye. 

“You should be resting” Keith whispers, voice tight laced with concern “You almost passed out back there with Matt” 

“Mhmm” Lance doesn’t really feel like bickering or talking. He just rests his head on his friend’s back and feels the world move around him. A voice in the back of his head reprimands him, ushers him to go back to work. He chooses to ignore it, that voice can go to hell. 

“I swear I’m going to lock you in your room” The Black Paladin sighs and Lance can already see him rolling his eyes “You won’t be able to come out until you sleep and get something healthy to eat” 

“Whatever you say Allura” His voice is slurred and he barely registers what he just said. He can feel Keith stiffen for just a moment but he ignores it, the dull coming back on full force “Hey,  _amor_?” 

“What is it?” He asks, blunt and straight to the point. 

“You’re carrying me right?” Keith nods at the question, leaving him to mull over the answer again. They are quiet for a couple of seconds before he opens up again “Does this mean we’re having a bonding moment?” 

Keith chuckles, shaking him up a bit before he stops. The halls are now quiet, surely they are reaching the dorm rooms by now. Lance can barely keep himself away, he feels as if he’s dozing off every five seconds or so. He tries to blink his eyes awake but it’s not working. 

“Only if you remember it” The Black Paladin mutters, as Lance holds onto him tighter. Keith responds the same, holding him even closer. 

“I'll try” Keith turns to look at him but Lance can’t even register it at all. He’s asleep before his friend can even say a thing.  
 

* * *

 

Kosmo runs straight at him, colliding with Lance and sending him toppling down into the grass. He laughs, rubbing the wolf’s fur as he continues to roll all over his body. There’s a flash of blue as Komo disappears and appears once again, slobbering his face with saliva. 

“No, no, no Kosmo! Bad wolf!” Lance reprimands him, trying to swat the animal away but failing. His cries go on deaf ears as the wolf continues his attack on him. All of a sudden Kosmo plops down over his stomach, head nuzzling over his clean uniform. “Oh sure clean yourself all over my uniform you menace” 

“He’s happy to see you” Krolia comes into view, amusement dripping from her voice. The Galra plops down right next to him on the field, taking in the view before them. 

They're settled on a small hill overlooking the whole Garrison. From there you could see the vast Arizona desert as the sun sets over the mountains far beyond them. The scenery it’s quite majestic if it weren’t for the constant dull in his emotions. 

“Where’s Keith?” Usually when Kosmo goes to bother him, Keith is always after him. And usually when Krolia is here on Earth, Keith is always beside her. Lance cranes his neck looking for the former Black Paladin but he was nowhere in sight. 

“He had a meeting with Shiro and Kolivan” Krolia explains, admiring the sun setting in front of them “He left a message for you” 

“What? A message for me? Where?” Lance sits up, moving the wolf’s body over his lap. The animal doesn’t even stir as he burrows further into his body. Surely there’s a small string tied over his neck, a small red note sticking in contrast with the black mane of the cosmic wolf. He looks up at Krolia who in turn only nudges her head, encouraging him to take it. 

Lance turns back to the note and takes it. He carefully opens it and reads: ‘ _Make sure to keep Kosmo company. Take your meds and get some sleep asshole_ ' Smiling to himself he saves the note somewhere in his jacket, thanking Keith in his head. He takes the scenery before him, the night sky's slowly taking over and the stars barely twinkling above them. Krolia doesn’t say anything, her eyes glued to the far horizon of the desert.

It wasn’t uncommon for them to relish in the quiet moments. Months ago Lance would’ve spurred conversation with Krolia, asking about her missions, telling her all about Cuba and anything that came to mind. Now, they share the silence between them. It wasn’t uncomfortable but it certainly felt different. 

“Krolia…” Said woman hummed in acknowledgement “Do you ever get over someone’s death?” 

There’s a beat of silence and Lance thinks he fucked up. Sure Krolia and him had talked before and she had offered advice countless of times. But this, this was something more personal. 

He doesn't dare to look back at her and focuses on stroking Kosmo’s fur. The wolf purrs in content, lazily swinging his tail. Lance swallows, mentally reprimanding himself for asking such a question, surely Krolia was on her way to kicking his ass. 

“My husband used to say that the dead always linger around us” The woman speaks. He turna to her, eyes wide and shuts his mouth. Korlia doesn't take her eyes off the sky, as if she were talking to someone else “That there’s traces of them scattered throughout our lives, even after their passing” Lance doesn’t speak up, letting the woman continue.

He convinced himself that Allura was watching over him. Somewhere around the galaxy she would always look out for him and the rest of the team. But believing was another thing. 

“There isn’t a day that passes by when I don’t think about him” She confesses “So to answer your question Lance, no I don’t think you ever truly get over someone’s death.”

He exhales, not entirely sure on how to answer. The answer was obvious from the beginning, but he needed to verify it with someone. 

“But that doesn’t mean we should mourn them the rest of our lives” Krolia now turns to him. Her eyes hold a sense of acceptance, the tiniest traces of a smile etched over her lips “I love my husband and I will love him with every last fiber of my being. I severely miss him and I wish he were here with me…” Her smile widens “But I also love my son and the Blade members and I know I still have a role to play in this life.”

Lance looks back out to the stars, finding solace in the vast sky spread upon him. A reminder that she’s somewhere looking down at him. 

“Don’t let go of your memories with her, but don’t let them consume you” 

He prays to the stars.

 

* * *

 

“I thought I would find you here” Shiro pipes up from the entrance of the observatory. Lance quickly wipes away his tears, hoping the captain of the Atlas hadn’t heard his crying session this late at night. 

Six months already passed by. Six months crying and praying he could overcome this. Six months of utter failure. 

He tried not to mope, not to think about it. He’d stopped crying himself to sleep, so that should count as some sort of progress or something similar. He was doing good at the Garrison; better than last time at least. Sleeping three hours more everyday did change his habits quite a lot. Not only that but he didn't collapse after that incident with his students, so that's another victory for him.  

The thing was his marks were glowing once again. 

Lance couldn’t stop the flow of tears even if he could. He locked himself in the observatory hoping no one was looking for him as he had another crying session by himself. No matter how much he cried and cried, the grief wouldn’t stop. It was horrible, something eating him up from the inside. After crying for who knows how many hours he laid there, slumped in one of the sofas for the room. He had a blue blanket draped over himself, a box of tissues over his lap and what was now a soaked pillow. He would have to wash the pillow later. Again. 

“H-Hey Shiro” He sniffles a bit more, rubbing at his eyes as well “What’s up?” 

“Nothing much” Shiro responds and he trudges into the room, the door closing behind him “Just wanted to check up on you” 

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me” Lance rubs at his eyes a bit more as the Captain of the Atlas settles right next to him. He looks out to the vast starry sky before them and doesn’t say a word. 

They stay silent for a while, neither one of them speaking up. Lance can feel Shiro’s eyes on him but doesn’t comment on it, focusing solely on the constellations above their heads. He really wishes he could stop feeling this way. It was miserable. He wanted it to end. But at the same time, guiltiness swept through.

How could he feel miserable whenever he remembered Allura? 

He’s been trying. He’s been trying so much to remember the princess and her smile. When she first piloted Blue, her talks with the mice, whenever her and Coran reminisced about the old Altea, finding Romelle… All of those moments swirl in his mind but the thought of Allura not being with them brings forth a hole in his chest. His mind screams at him to get a grip, move on forward but his heart refuses to do so. He doesn’t know how to. 

“Lance?” Shiro snaps him out of his trance. He turns to look at his leader when he feels the weird tingling sensation on his cheeks. He suck in a gasp. With trembling fingers he carefully touches the Altean marks. They’re glowing once again. 

The tears fall down without his permission. 

“Ah sorry!” He exclaims, trying to make them stop. He wipes them away one after the other but they just keep coming. His heart is doing flips and his stomach is turning in on itself. A sob rips out of his throat and that one he can’t disguise it at all “Fuck sorry Shiro, you don’t want to see me like this, sor-“ 

“Don’t apologize Lance” Shiro interrupts him, suddenly hugging him with everything he has “We’re right here with you, remember that.” 

Lance returns the hug, burying his face into the man’s chest. He starts sobbing, tears coming without a warning, but Shiro doesn’t push him away.

_God he felt so tired from crying._

Suddenly he felt Shiro shake a little bit and Lance looks up. The man is crying as well, much more composed than he is but nonetheless crying. The sight shakes him to the core, as he quickly hugs him even harder. The Captain of the Atlas chokes back on a laugh, patting his back but it still feels quite empty. 

“Ah sorry I got caught up in my emotions”

“You don’t have to apologize Shiro” He pinched one of his sides, making the man jump a bit in surprise. 

“Okay you got me there” 

They both chuckle at that, still holding on to each other. Neither one of them speaks, basking in the moment as the stars shine above their heads. 

“I miss Adam” The man confesses. Lance hums, resting his head on Shiro’s shoulder, not quite daring to look up at him “He would’ve loved to meet all of you. I’m sure he would’ve chased Keith to no end for ditching school. Maybe even scold me for well dying and everything” They both laugh before the man continues “He would’ve loved it” 

Lance never officially knew about Adam. He vaguely was aware of a Garrison teacher with that name but that was it, nothing else. When he first met Shiro he didn’t know he and this mysterious Adam knew each other, let alone that they were in a relationship. Lance knew about Adam until they got back on Earth. He knew about him because he had died. 

He still remembers seeing Shiro composure break in a span of five seconds. He looked so hopeful, looking around in a sea of faces, surely looking for the man he loved. Only to be meet with such terrible news. It was a sick joke from the universe Lance thought. 

“There are times where I still call out to him” Shiro explains “Curtis never complains or anything. He’s very understanding. But…”  

“You still love him”  Lance muses “Right?” 

“Yeah I still do” There’s a beat of silence as they both loosen their grip on each other “I will always love Adam, that won’t change. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love Curtis any less” 

Lance nods in understanding, straightening up. They both look at each other and burst in a fit of wet laughter at their appearances. He quickly wipes away his tears, his eyes surely red and puffy again, hair a complete mess. Shiro looks better than him anyway. 

“So you and Curtis huh?” Lance pipes up, a mischievous smile over his lips. Shiro stops combing his hair to look at him, shock evident on his face. A huge blush spreads over his cheeks as he stammers in nerves “I fucking called it!” 

“Wait Lance!” Shiro tries grabbing him, but Lance is already sprinting out of the room “Don’t go snitching on me! Don’t you dare!” 

“Too late!” He exclaims, barely avoiding a pillow to his face. Another pillow comes right in his direction as Lance runs out of the observatory and goes straight to the lounge room. He was right and everyone else would have to hand in their money. 

 

* * *

 

Coran envelops him in a bone crushing hug as he exits the Red Lion. Lance laughs, clapping him in the back but returning the hug with equal fervor. The sun was glinting down at them, and he could faintly hear the excited yells coming from children. 

“Ah it’s good to see you Lance my boy” They both separate from the hug, smiling brightly at one another “It’s been a while hasn’t it?” 

“It’s been like two weeks since I saw you Coran” He jokes, turning to smile at the scenery of new Altea in front of him “A year since I’ve come here” 

“Yes the children miss you very much” The ginger man says and soon enough a small crowd of children is gathered at Red’s paws. He could feel the lion’s amusement at the delight and awe from the children and he couldn’t help but to laugh. As if on cue the children noticed his presence.

“Paladin Lance!” A small girl exclaims and soon enough all of the children run up to him, throwing themselves in his arms. 

“Woah hey, calm down!” He laughs merrily as boys and girls gather around him, big smile on their faces. 

“Lance!” Romelle appears out of nowhere and throws herself at him, sending them both to the grass. Lance groans in pain, his back surely hurting from the impact. The blonde Altean squeals in delight, as she peers down at him. 

“Good to see you to Romelle” He manages, but gives her a small smile. 

“It’s been ages! Where’ve you been?” She exclaims, rolling off of him and sprawling down on the grass. Lance sits up the children still admiring Red in awe or giving him small hugs at his return. 

“Mostly the Garrison. I’m a teacher now” He grins “You saw the picture of the first batch of junyberries right?” 

“Oh they were beautiful!” Combing a hand through her enormous pigtails, she sits up as well “I’m amazed you managed to grow them in Earth, I was sure you would need a bit of soil form here” 

“Pidge’s mom helped me a lot I have to admit” Colleen Holt insisted on helping him in his small side project and honestly without her Lance would’ve been toast “If it weren’t for her the flowers wouldn’t have bloomed” 

“Come on let me lead you to your room” Romelle helps him stand up. Lance bid the children farewell and a quick goodbye to his lion as well. 

A year. A year had already passed since that fated day. It seemed surreal to him that so much things had changed in just the span of twelve months. Last time he had visited the new Castle of Lions was just a bunch of columns, no form or aesthetic over the place. Now a complete castle appears before him.

The castle was exactly as how he remembered the first time they saw it on Arus. It a complete replica of the previous one. Lance get as if he was reuniting with an old friend. 

Houses and small markets stretch out around the castle. The roads were still in process and from what he knew there were still a couple of buildings and locals Coran was planning to create. It was starting to become more and more the Altea Coran had described to him in all of his tales. Right at the center of a small plaza was a beautiful fountain and there was Allura’s statue.

Lance stops in his tracks completely mesmerized on the piece before him.

It looks exactly like her, the fierce look in her eyes, caring smile and regal posture. He smiles, a few tears slipping by. Romelle rubs his back in comfort, sadly smiling at the statue. 

A small plaque was at the bottom of the statue and Lance sees a list of names. Names of all of those Alteans that perished all of those millennia ago and the ones sacrificed in the recent war. It was a reminder of what they had lost. 

“Come on I’m sure the others will soon be arriving” Romelle nudges him back towards the castle and he doesn't complain.  

 

* * *

 

Seeing his friends again brings tears to his eyes. It had been around two months since he had left the Garrison on a short 'vacation' to go back to his family’s farm. He was doing good if he was honest, but soon enough his mood worsened and he focused too much on his work, ending up in another two collapses. His friends practically sent him on a flight to Varadero by themselves. Lance still holds the position of teacher back at the Garrison, all thanks to Shiro, but he wasn't in any rush to go back.

After arriving at Cuba, and seeing all of his family again, he didn't feel like leaving anymore. So after his project with Colleen resulted in a success, he decided to try the same on his family's farm. And thus the junyberries were able to blossom right on Varadero. He stayed with his family all of that time; taking care of Sylvio and Nadia; herding Kaltenecker for milk; taking care of the junyberries. It helped him relax. That was until Coran’s invitation made way to his home. He hopped in Red without thinking twice. 

“How’s your life of farmer going?” Pidge gives him a teasing grin, eyes glinting with mischief “I hope Kaltenecker isn’t giving you a hard time” 

“Oh fuck off” Lance laughs “I’ll have you know Kaltenecker is the sweetest cow ever! She probably pooped on you because you scared her” 

“One time McClain! I fucking tell you-“ 

“ _Language!_ ” Shiro shoots them both a dirty look, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Oh come on Shiro I’m like seventeen now” 

“Nuh-uh you’re like twelve!” A weird purple fruit is thrown towards him but he quickly dodges it. Pidge shouts in fury and throws another fruit and another until one hit him right on the cheek “Shiro! Pidge threw weird space fruit at me!” 

“Lance started it!” Pidge huffs as the Captain of the Atlas just rolls his eyes. Shiro gives them a brief look before focusing on the horizon in front of them. What a grandpa.  

“I think you guys broke him” Hunk whispers from the other side of the table, as he takes a slice of a heart shaped red vegetable, popping it into his mouth without a second thought. Lance laughs already reminiscing of a similar day back when they were in space, traveling inside the original Castle of Lions. 

He turns to look at the new castle. It's just like the previous one as it stands in the middle of New Altea in all of it’s glory. The castle glistened in the orange and pink sunlight, reflecting a beautiful glow across the whole land. It was such a sight to see. His eyes shift, towards the large courtyard and the statue gleaming right beside them. 

His breath hitch, as his eyes focus on the statue once more. It was Allura, standing in all of her glory right beside them. It almost felt like she was with them, right next to them in the table celebrating the occasion. He wonders what she would say at seeing them like this. Seeing what they had become after the war was over. Bitting his lower lip he turns back to the table, fiddling with the cup on his hands. 

“Now now team we need to settle down” Coran comments, taking his seat at the head of the table “The only one missing is Keith, after that you can eat and fight as much as you want to” 

“The Blades are retaining him for sure” Pidge pipes up as she settles back down on the chair, propping a small fruit in her mouth “I’m sure they are begging him to go on their weird long ass mission” 

“ _Language_ ” Shiro drones once more “Don’t worry he’s coming, he texted me he was running a bit late” 

“Oh thank god, I wanted to teach him how to make space wolf treats” Hunk giggles “I thought of making a small batch for Kosmo but I ended up doing a whole basket of them. I need to get them off my hands” 

“You could give them to me. I’m sure Bae Bae would appreciate them!” Pidge smiles at the mention of her dog. 

“Kaltenecker needs nutrition too!” Lance pipes up “My beautiful cow provided us with milkshakes in those times of need!” 

Before Lance continues, there’s a whirring sound coming from above them. He knows it’s the Black Lion before he even looks up. There’s a deep rumbling inside his mind, as if Red was calling out to Keith as well. Black slowly descends into the meadow in front of them, regal and powerful as always. Just as the Black Lion lands, he can finally see the pack of lions reunited once again. There's a wave of happiness coming from both Red and Blue at the fact they're all reunited again. 

Pidge scrambles away from her seat, Hunk right after her. Shiro chuckles, nostalgia written all over his face as he looks at his former lion. Coran stays seated, smiling as the Black Lion slowly descends to open up her hatch. it's almost dramatic as he waits for his friend to come down. He turns to stand but the door opens up before them. Lance sighs in relief as his eyes settle on Keith, his heart calming down at seeing his face. 

Keith stands there in all of his glory, walking down Black’s ramp as he seeks out to meet them. His hair is longer, now reaching past his shoulders and nicely framing his face. Happiness is written all over his face as Pidge instantly wraps him up in a hug, followed by Hunk crushing the two of them. Both of them shriek at the force of the hug but they burst out laughing soon after. Lance feels his heart swell. 

The Black Paladin, detangles himself from the hug, still chuckling as he watches his friends. Keith turns and looks over at the rest of them. His eyes drift over to Lance instantly. 

He gulps at the attention Keith is giving him, but manages a small smile. They haven’t seen each other in a while, after he left the Garrison, but they messaged each other almost every day. It's different though, he thinks, going from seeing Keith all the time to only reading about his new adventures with the Blade of Marmora. The Black Paladin walks over to him, a fond look over his eyes and a smile taking over. That’s when Lance notices the jacket. 

It was the one he had given him as a present in his birthday. It was one of the few articles of clothing Lance had found back at Cuba. It was a package with two jackets, one blue and the other one red. He instantly thought of Keith and bought them, shipping over the red jacket to his friend. Lance had claimed that they had matching jackets now in one of their video-chats and the Black Paladin only shook his head in response. He had never expected Keith to wear it. Not while he was wearing his own. 

“Hey” Keith now stands in front of him, all tall and regal and his mind scrambles for a response. 

“H-Hey Mullet” Lance grimaces at his nervousness. He gives him another look before chuckling “Looks like we’re matching buddies now?” Keith blinked and as if on cue noticed his attire. 

“Guess that we are” Keith smiles and seriously if he continued like that Lance would end up dead on the floor. 

“Ugh you’re the worst. Come on give me a hug” He grins, enveloping his friend in a warm hug. Keith tenses for a second before slowly falling in, wrapping his arms around his waist. Lance is widely grinning shaking up the two of them from one side to the other. Keith’s arms tighten their hold on him but he feels the boy laughing beside him. 

There’s a soft itch overtaking his face but he ignores it as he basks in Keith’s attention. There’s a gasp and he snaps his eyes open. Pidge is looking at him, eyes wide and surprise all over her face. Hunk gives him a worried look, already trying to turn the girl the other way. Shiro is still seated, though he is looking at both of them with wide eyes but a grin over his lips. Lance turns to Coran and feels his heart almost stop. 

There’s tears streaming down his face along with a sad smile. He can feel his heart breaking, already dreading what happened. Lance stills and that’s enough for Keith to know that something’s up. The Black Paladin leans away, his arms still around his back as he takes a look to his face. 

Lance sees the surprise in his eyes and he knows it. With shaking hands, he slowly lets go of Keith to slowly touch one of his cheeks. He doesn’t feel the burn anymore, accustomed to the marks for over a year. But it still doesn’t make the experience any less mortifying. He presses his thumbs over one of them. 

His marks are brightly burning once more.

It’s been a long time since they’ve done it and Lance honestly was a bit relieved because of it. There’s a pang of guilt that courses through him. A reminder of the person they lost over a year ago. The thought of Allura returns once more, leaving him breathless, unable to answer. He's laughing and having a great time with everyone, with  _Keith_  while Allura is just...not here. He blinks back tears. How can he be so selfish? Forgetting her like that, he can't, he can't-

“My boy” Coran is next to him, eyes still red and blotchy but filled with warmth and gratitude. His own marks start to glow and Lance can't do anything but stare. He doesn’t know if he’ll start crying soon, but he can feel the giggles bubbling up. 

“ _We’re like fireflies_ ” He manages between them and Coran’s confused expression makes him giggle a bit more. Keith is looking at him in concern, surely thinking that he finally snapped. Lance tries to smile, but by the look on Keith's face it doesn't calm him down at all. The rest of the team soon joins them, Pidge looking in fascination at the two of them. 

“Glow in the dark stickers!” Hunk comments, pointing at their cheeks “Like the ones you had on our dorm back at the Garrison” 

“I think you’re more like glow-up sticks? I mean at least for Lance” Pidge snickers at his shocked expression. Lance scrambles, trying to get to her, but the girl is already on the other side of the table. 

“I am offended!” He places a hand over his heart, marks still glowing “I’m not a stick” 

“Bean-pole, same thing” 

“Why you!” 

He doesn’t hesitate and flings one squishy fruit right onto Pidge’s face. It makes a loud squishing sound as it makes contact, enveloping the girl in a weird blue goop. He laughs in victory just as another fruit hits him square in the back. The Green Paladin snickers, taking two other fruits in her hands before she launches her attack. But now instead of hitting him, they collide with both Hunk and Keith. The two boys just look over at her, then at each other before launching a full out attack. It became a mess of colors and substances as the food was thrown around the table, Shiro soon joining them in the food war. 

Lance still doesn't know how he managed to lived this long.

But seeing his friends together again, is enough for him to continue. He looks up in daze at Allura’s statue and it almost feels like she’s looking right back at him. He can't help the grimace. Lance doesn't deserve any of this, the only one who did was dead and gone by now.  _How unfair_  his mind thinks as he salutes the statue before joining the rest of the team in their conversation but not really paying any attention. His eyes continue to drift to the statue countless of times. 

It was around midnight when they all scrambled off to their rooms. Lance is asleep before his head even hits the pillow. 

 

* * *

 

The first thing he sees is Allura. Everything stills and Lance can’t breathe. The princess gives him a warm smile, dressed in her usual attire making him go numb at the beauty she portrays. Her hair glows around her, cascading down her back along with that dress she loved so much. He takes in a deep breath noticing the soft glow from her own Altean marks as well. He could feel the same itch on his face. 

Is this real? 

His mind tries to catch up with the fact that Allura is standing right in front of him, but his body is numb. He takes in all of her features just as when he had first met her. Lance calls out to her, but no sound comes out. Blinking he tries once more, but it ends up in the same result. The princess rolls her eyes at him, affection and warmth radiating from them. Lance almost wants to laugh at the expression. She smiles once more and slowly walks towards him.

As her feet touch the non-existent ground underneath them, a patch of junyberries blossoms. It’s sort of mystical as the princess continues to walk over to him and the flowers keep spreading all around her. She comes closer and closer and there’s a soft pink glow emanating from her. Right, this is not real. 

Allura’s not here with him. 

He’s been crying non-stop the past year. Lance has always been an emotional person, everyone who has met him knows that. Still, he doesn’t think there’s a way to make his tears stop just now. 

“Lance” It feels so foreign to hear his name being uttered by her once again. The tears come harder than ever, a sob already ripping out of his body. Allura smiles now standing right in front of him “ _Lance, my love_ ” 

“ _Allura_ ” He cries, a wobbly smile over his lips “Allura I missed you, I miss you so much” 

“And I miss you” She carefully takes both of his hands in hers. The fact that there’s contact between each other makes him cry out once more. This feels so real “I miss all of you. Every waking moment I pray and hope you are doing all right” 

“We been-“ He laughs humorlessly, rubbing his hands over hers. Another sob comes out of his body, the tears continuing to flow “Well we been managing” He bites his lip, an ugly sense of dread filling him up at the thought of Allura vanishing. He tightens his hold on her hands. Not now,  _please not now_  “But it’s not the same. It’ll never be the same without you” 

Allura gives him a sad smile. Carefully she moves and places one of her hands over his right cheek, her thumb slowly caressing his marks. Lance leans into the touch, tears stinging his eyes. They stay like that for a moment, just basking in the feeling. He’s not sure if this is even real or not, but he doesn’t care in the slightest. 

“Lance you have to let go” He tightens the hold on her hand “I know you’re scared and you’re still hurting. But you have to move on. Continue with your life, I can’t bear seeing you like this” 

“I can’t” He chanted over and over again “I can’t do it, I’m not strong enough” Allura steps even closer to him, her head resting over his chest. He wraps his arms around her, too scared that the princess might disappear any second now. Lance nuzzles his face on her neck, trying to stop the tears “I’m scared of forgetting about you.” 

He can’t deny that there weren’t happy moments during the past year. Laughing with his friends, meeting the new pilots at the Garrison, spending time with his family; he couldn’t be more grateful for it. But the thought of Allura missing was a constant reminder to him. 

“I’m scared to forget what your voice sounds like” He cries “To forget how you laughed whenever we did something stupid. To forget your praises and even scoldings. I just don’t want to Allura” 

“My love that’s something we can’t know for sure” She giggles, arms wrapping around him as well “But I do know you. You’re destined for great things Lance. I’ll tell you this a thousand times over, but you have greatness within you darling” Allura takes a small step back, looking up to meet his eyes. Her eyes hold the same warmth and determination as before.

“Don’t continue to mourn me” 

“Allura I can’t- I can’t do that to you” A dam breaks within him “It’s unfair. It’s so unfair Allura. I wanted to do all sorts of things with you, but now I-“ A sob escapes his mouth, the same feeling of hopelessness overtaking him “I don’t know how to go on” 

“You do know how.” The princess softly speaks, her voice a soft lullaby to him “You're just hesitating my love. I’m not asking you to forget me. I’m asking you to continue on. There are people waiting for you, people who care for you as much as I do. And if not for them, do it for yourself darling” 

“I-I” Lance can’t even connect words, his mouth opening and shutting at every thought. Is he worthy of doing such a thing? 

“You have an enormous heart Lance” Allura gives him a blinding smile, knowing what he’s thinking about right away. Lance stops, astounded at the expression on her face. He’s never seen her happier “You give love and support to everyone you meet, not wanting anything in exchange. I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you and I hope you have it in your heart to forgive me” 

“You don't have to apologize” He hugs her once more, his marks burning a thousand times more. 

“Promise me you’ll go on ahead without me” She presses a soft kiss to his cheek “I’ll always be with you my love, even when you can’t see me or feel me” She kisses each of his Altean marks “I’ll be here” 

“ _Allura_ ” Lance calls out to her, a sense of finality setting over him “I’ll never forget about you. I’ll never forget about all the memories we made together. I-“ His voice breaks but he continues on “I can’t bear the thought of moving on, but I’ll try. I promise you I will try to do so” 

“Thank you Lance” It’s faint but slowly her body starts glowing more intensely. He tightens his grip over her waist, already dreading what’s about to come. The flowers at her feet slowly start disappearing, the petals dancing softly in the wind. It’s like they’re calling out to her; It’s her time to leave.

 “You have to let me go darling.” 

He looks at her eyes once more. Her gaze softens, smile still present as she presses one final kiss over his forehead. Lance can’t help the laugh that escapes his mouth. They look at each other and he makes the decision.   
Slowly he releases his hold on her, his hands slowly caressing her back until they hold onto hers. Giving them one last squeeze, he lets go.

Allura brightens, a giggle escaping her mouth. The scenery around them changes from an endless black canvas to a sea of stars twinkling all around. It’s mesmerizing but Lance can’t take his eyes off of Allura. Her body is glowing brighter and brighter just as the hem of her dress starts dissolving into thin air. It just as if her body is returning back to the stars. 

Lance cries once more just as he watches her give him one last smile. The juneberries petal gather around her just as she instantly disappears. It’s like a punch to the gut, and he can’t help to call out her name once more. The stars twinkling around him a soft pink hue and he prays she’s back with her loved ones. 

“I love you Lance” 

It’s a soft whisper but it doesn’t go unnoticed. He starts to drift away from that place, that dream. He’s not sure if it was real or was just a product of his imagination but nonetheless Allura was with him. Smiling he presses his lips against his hands, eyes squeezing shut. 

“I love you too Allura”

 

* * *

 

He wakes up with a start. Pijamas clung to his body, sweat dripping from his forehead, breaths heaving out of his mouth. He's shaking all over, barely able to sit up on his bed. He can still feel the Altean marks glowing, burning through his skin. It was a dream, but at the same time Lance knows it happened. 

Lance brushes the marks with shaky fingers. A laugh escapes his mouth, and before he knows it he’s laughing and crying at the same time. He can’t believe it, his heart racing over his chest and the need to go see Allura’s statue increases. 

Suddenly a bright light engulfs the whole room, blinding him momentarily. And just like that they are gone. Lance blinks, trying to readjust his vision until he feels a wave of emotions crashing over him. It’s a mix of happiness, agony and nostalgia. It almost feels bittersweet. 

His eyes widen. These feelings are not his. 

Marks still glowing, Lance sprints out of his room, not really knowing where he has to go. He’s gasping, body still trying to catch up on the change. He hears the commotion around him but keeps going. It seems like he isn’t the only one out of his room. 

“Lance!” Keith calls out to him “Lance wait!” 

“What is going on?” Pidge cries out, practically using Hunk as support to keep going. 

The night breeze hits him right in the face as they exit the Castle of Lions. Legs shaking, Lance manages to take a few steps forward and look at the clear in front of them. Allura’s statue stands right in front of them, along with the Voltron lions in all of their glory. 

Their engines are up and about, eyes glinting golden as they stand in front of the team. Lance can feel both Red and Blue’s presence flooding over his being. A warmth sweeps over him, as if giving him a sweet pat in the head along with a warm hug. He can feel the tears pooling at his eyes.  _It’s too soon_ , his mind echoes, trying to get across his message to the lions.

It feels like a goodbye. 

Slowly the lions all start flying up towards the sky, before sharing one last look with each of their paladins. It’s breaking his heart all over again, but he manages to send a smile towards all of them. And as if on cue, they turn back towards the sky and shoot off into space. 

Pidge calls out to Green, voice breaking, just as Hunk cries into his hands. Shiro quickly envelops the small girl into a hug, as she starts sobbing.

Before he knows it, Keith crushes him into a tight hug. Lance wraps his arms around him instantly, burying his face into his neck. 

No one speaks a word after that. After what felt like hours they all go back inside the castle. Lance doesn’t feel like sleeping at all, not that he could do it in the state he’s in. It’s a silent agreement between everyone as they all head towards the new observatory. 

The doors of the room open before them and it’s breathtaking. There’s a huge pile of comforters and pillows all nested right at the center of the room. The ceiling replaced by glass, gifting them a beautiful view of the night’s sky. They all pile up inside, settling themselves into their own places. 

Lance takes the spot in the center, everyone else taking a seat around him. Pidge squishes herself between him and Hunk, draping a massive blanket over the three of them, still rubbing her eyes. Hunk pats her head and hugs a pillow over his chest, eyes puffy and tired. Keith nestles on his right side, closing the space between the two of them. Their hands casually brushing against each other. Shiro sighs, plopping himself behind them, able to comfort all of them if needed.

Time passes, silence enveloping them whole. The stars continue to shine high above them and it’s mesmerizing to look at. The memory of the lions flying away still fills him up with sadness, but he hopes.

He hopes the lions will return someday. 

Lance can hear Hunk’s snores and Pidge’s soft breath beside him. He doesn’t even stir when the girl grabs his arm and latches onto it. Chuckling he turns to look at Shiro. The man is sprawled out on the floor, gripping the pillows around him. Lance feels his eyelids drop every minute, yawing every five seconds. The tiredness is slowly getting to him, but he refuses to go to sleep. 

The image of Allura is still present in his mind, the message she told him replaying over and over again like a broken record. He doesn’t want to forget just how real it felt to him. 

Keith moves closer to him. Immediately he presses Lance’s head to his shoulder, adjusting their position to get more comfortable. Lance doesn’t protest and focuses on the sea of stars above him. He feels Keith’s heartbeat racing a thousand miles per second, but pays it no mind. The sound is lullying him to sleep.

The Black Paladin drapes another blanket over him, the two of them drawing even closer. Lance closes his eyes, body relaxing against Keith in an instant. He still refuses to sleep but it’s getting harder and harder as the seconds tick by.

“Sleep” Lance can’t open his eyes anymore, way too tired to even try. He feels the familiar itch of his Altean marks, but in this moment he can only think of Allura. As if she’s waving goodbye, their paths straying from each other. 

Lance conveys the same feelings, hugging Keith’s waist and biding the princess a safe trip. He would always carry her memory with him, no questions asked.

But slowly he could learn to move on. He knows he can.

“It’s okay Lance” Keith insists, his gloved hands brushing the top of his “ _I’ll be here_ ” 

And he believes it.


	2. Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _His heart gallops in his chest, butterflies exploding all around. He can feel a blush rise on his face and he struggles with this new found discovery. The glow coming from his marks intensifies, the blue glow filtering through his fingers._
> 
> _This is not happening. This is not-_
> 
> _Oh god._
> 
> _He had fallen for him. He had fallen for the mullet-brain, reckless Black Paladin and caring best friend._
> 
> _Lance liked Keith._
> 
>    
>  __
> 
> _[we may fall and sometimes get hurt, but will you stay with me? ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCRqz-NGB2Y) _

He still isn’t used to the Altean marks etched on his face. How they move along with his eyes, the way they light up whenever he’s happy.

It reminds him of Allura.  

It still reminds him of Allura.

It was a slow process. After that eventful night one year ago, Lance could confirm he was getting better. Slowly but surely. It was constant work; from waking up, working as an instructor at the Garrison, attending countless meetings to sleeping past two in the morning. His friends all made sure to talk to him at least once a day, leaving him elated and happy for meeting them. Trips to Altea weren’t that frequent but chatting with Coran and Romelle wasn’t as heartbreaking as in the beginning.

He visited Cuba every chance he got. Helping out in his family’s farm and taking care of his nephews whenever he could. Veronica accompanied him as well, taking time off her busy schedule to travel along with him. They all gave him space and time to adjust, never pushing.

It was still difficult.

There were times when he felt utterly hopeless, refusing to even get out of bed. Veronica and Luis would barge in forcing him to go out, and they would end up yelling at each other. Rachel would sit across from him, annoying him with everything she got until he ate something. His parents always tried to give him space, but sometimes even that wasn’t enough.

Lance was grateful his family was so patient with him.

That didn’t mean he was happy with himself.

“Kaltenecker please just cooperate with me”

The cow kept eating in that same spot, taking some junyberries on the patch of grass in front of her. Lance groans in frustration once more, before sighing. It was a rough Saturday morning to begin with.

After a harsh week of training new recruits at the Garrison, Shiro insisted on him taking at least the weekend off, and thus he took a flight to Cuba without question. Seeing his family once again and being near the farm brought a new set of pleasantries with him.

But not at the moment.

“Kaltenecker _preciosa_ , please just move you’re going to eat all of the junyberries if you keep this up” Lance feels as if he’s talking to a brick wall as the cow just moo’s in response. He stomps over to the side and promptly tries to move his pet.

In turn the cow doesn’t even budge, flicking him off with her tail. The disrespect, from his own child no less!

“Ungrateful cow!” Lance yells, throwing his arms out in the air and causing some hens to run away in fear, dropping eggs in their wake “I’ve raised you since you were a child and this is how you repay me?!”

“You bought her on the Space Mall Lance”

“Ugh shut it mullet!”

Lance turns and sure enough there is Keith Kogane in all of his glory, pajamas still clinging to his body on this beautiful Saturday morning. The man in question only shrugs, yawning the moment away. There’s a zap of blue and right next to him appears Kosmo.

Right.

So when he was buying the plane tickets, he didn’t hesitate on telling his friends about his plan and thus inviting them along with him. The thing was that all of them were occupied, all of them with thousands of plans and whatnot. Everyone with the exception of Keith. The former Black Paladin had just returned from a long and arduous mission with the Blades and surely he needed to unwind.

And so Lance brought him along to his humble home.

“Maybe she really likes that spot?” Keith muses, scratching Kosmo’s ears in the process. The wolf purrs in happiness, furrowing deeper into the touch, earning a chuckle from his master.

“I don’t care if she likes it, she’s going to eat the flowers!” Lance whines and tries pushing her again. Kaltenecker barely spares him a glance and then goes down again to continue eating. Taking another flowers in its wake “ _Noooo!_ Stop you’re going to eat all of them!”

“Lance calm down” His friend is right there next to him in a second. Lance pouts and Keith only chuckles in response “Hey girl would you please move to another patch?” He asks gently.

Kaltenecker turns her head to look at him, the same bored expression over her face when she looked at Lance. _She’s not going to move_ his mind replies but before he can voice out his thoughts the cow slowly pads her way away from the flower field. His eyes widen, gasping as his pet walks away.

Kosmo barks happily as he trudges away, following after Kaltenecker. The cow barely spares him a glance as she starts eating again in another patch of grass. Lance turns to his friend who in turn already has a smug look on his face.

“What?” He snaps.

“Nothing, nothing” Keith is teasing him, Lance knows it. He growls once more and kneels in front of the flowers.

Sighing he begins to pick up the discarded seems and petals of the junyberries. He can hear Kaltenecker mooing in the distance, surely already stuffed herself with grass. He only rolls his eyes and continues to recollect the flowers. Once again Keith is suddenly there, right next to him. Lance glances back at him and the boy only turns back to the ground, helping him pick up the discarded flowers.

“Have you ever thought about growing other flowers here?” Keith asks out of the blue and Lance turns to look at him. The other boy doesn’t spare him a glance, too keen on watching the ground beneath him.

“Hm I’ve never thought about it really” Lance muses out loud. He grunts and sits down on a patch of grass, eyes following the morning’s sky.

“And now that you’re thinking about it, would you do it?” Keith insists, not meeting his eyes. Lance frowns but keeps silent, the question making rounds in his head.

“Why so insistent?” He pulls his knees towards his chest, propping up his arms over them. His friends lets out a sigh before turning to him. There’s a determined look settling over his eyes as they gaze at each other. That’s odd “Are we really talking about flowers here?”

“Somewhat” The former Black Paladin mutters under his breath.

“Okay?” If they are not talking about flowers, then what the fuck are they even talking about?

Lance waits for another explanation, but it doesn’t come. Keith keeps looking at him, waiting for his answer. Is there something he’s missing? He mulls the question once again before answering “I mean I would think about it I guess. Mostly because I don’t spend a lot of time here in the farm. Not like when I was growing the junyberries”

“And if you had time?” What’s with Keith and these questions “If you had time would you grow other flowers?”

Does Keith want him to open up a flower shop or something? Lance’s frown deepens as he keeps looking at the boy. He’s still unsure if they are really talking about flowers or if Keith is just using the topic to talk about something else. Another mysterious topic Lance has no idea of.

How complicated.

He’s going to indulge Keith anyway and pretend they really are talking about plants.

“I’m…not sure” He replies, his hands clasping together. Keith’s eyes never stray from his but Lance has the urge to look elsewhere “I grew these flowers for Allura and that was that, nothing more to it I guess. I never thought much about it.”

Keith says nothing but keeps staring at him. Lance takes in a deep breath.

“But that’s right now” He confesses, heart suddenly thundering in his chest. Sure he started all of this, thanks to her; in her honor to be correct. And while he still missed her, slowly he might be able to move on “Maybe in the future I would still have the same answer. Maybe I would say no. Or maybe I could like the idea.”

“Right now, I’m not sure about it” He turns his eyes to Keith, whose eyes never strayed from his frame “But my answer might change in the future”

A part of him still refuses to let go of Allura. He thinks that maybe he’ll never let go of her in some way. But he’s come to the conclusion that it’s okay and there’s nothing to be worried about. Lance hugs his legs tighter to him, eyes starting to sting for a moment.

“I’ll hold onto that McClain”

Keith stands up, eyes ablaze and dark locks waving into the wind. There’s something about him that catches Lance off guard for a moment. The way the sunlight filters over Keith’s eyes, flashing spots of purple and indigo over his iris, a soft halo adorning his whole face and body. It’s mesmerizing.

Lance is unable to look away, eyes drinking all of Keith in that moment.

_Hold the fuck up._

His heart skips a beat and that’s all it takes for him to reel back in. Lance gasps, hands clamoring by his sides and legs shaking. Was he about to pass out or something? He tries breathing in and out, but the thoughts keep flooding his mind over and over. Keith was just standing there, nothing luxurious to marvel at or anything. _But this was different though_ , a voice in his mind replies.

He peeks over at his friend again. The former Black Paladin is walking right back towards his house, Kosmo happily yapping by his side. Lance keeps staring at him waiting for another revelation or something, but nothing comes. There’s only Keith and Kosmo walking side by side.

Taking another breath, Lance gets to his feet and starts walking after them. He can still feel the light tremors of whatever that was over his body, vibrating over his knees and threatening to leave him on the ground. He steels through it and reaches Keith’s side.

When nothing overwhelms him anymore, he’s not sure if he should feel relieved or not.

 

* * *

 

Going back to the Garrison after that was better. Lance immersed himself in classes and whatnot, focusing on his newer students and projects. It was much more of a routine and he was glad for some sort of balance in his life. Oddly enough the one addition to his everyday shift was Keith.

After that trip to Cuba the former Black Paladin dropped in his apartment almost everyday. From bringing him coffee to making dinner with him late at night. Lance had to admit that he wasn’t used to seeing his friend everyday (seeing Keith everyday in the Castle of Lions was different okay) but he wasn’t against it. Sometimes the rest of the team would tag along but it was usually the two of them. And Kosmo of course.

Today was different though.

“You’re adding way too much sugar!” Lance yells, trying to stop the beeping coming from the stove. There’s a cloud of smoke gathering at the ceiling, making him cough every five seconds.

“Concentrate on turning that thing off!” Keith screams, his arms full of ingredients, relocating them from one table to the other.

Lance shouldn’t be surprised by how badly this was going. When he saw Keith baking a batch of cookies that morning, he figured he might as well help the guy. The two of them got to work but it was safe to say that they were failing miserably.

There was flour and cookie dough sprawled all over the kitchen floor, making a disgusting mess along with the sprinkles Keith had dropped earlier that morning. Lance pushed another series of numbers onto the stove, praying Hunk would appear out of nowhere and help them. He punched in another set of numbers until the beeping stopped.

The two of them sighed in relief as the smoke vanished through the air ducts. Finally he could breathe properly again. Lance wipes his forehead, wondering when in the word did baking turn into such a hassle.

“You’re a menace” Keith says from the other side of the room. He snaps his eyes to him already growling an answer.

“You’re the one to talk!” Lance adjusts his blue apron over his pants “You were about to use salt instead of sugar Kogane!”

“Says the one who thought we could use a pan to ‘fry’ the cookies!”

He rolls his eyes,  just one comment and it comes to bite him back in the fucking face. Keith sighs, picking up the container with the cookie batter.

“C’mon, we have to make this other batch while the other ones bake” He says, voice soft and fond. That was quite unexpected. Lance gives him another look, but does take the container in his hands.

Soon enough there’s another mess in the kitchen.

The two of them are screaming at each other trying their best to cut the dough into what could look like Kosmo’s face. Keith’s face is covered in flour, pink and orange sprinkles all over his ridiculous mullet, full concentration mode as he carefully tries to imitate his wolf’s face. Lance isn’t any better; his hair sticking in every direction, face covered in cookie dough and little star sprinkles all over his cheeks.

“You gave him Dorito ears” Lance laughs beside Keith, trying to stop his tears from spilling out. The Black Paladin scowls in response, trying harder to adjust the ears of the Kosmo cookie without ruining everything else “Now he looks angry”

“Yours has pink sprinkles for eyes” He smirks and Lance gasps. The nerve.

“Kosmo would look great with pink let me tell you” He comments, remembering the time he placed a pink bow over the wolf’s head. Kosmo looked adorable before Keith ripped off the accessory from his head. At least he still had the hundred pictures of that moment on his phone.

“Whatever you say Lance” He comments dryly. Keith keeps his eyes trained on the platter, knife in hand as he tries to perfect the shape of the cookie. Somehow Lance can’t keep his gaze off him.

There’s something about seeing Keith work that he can’t seem to place. His hair is all pulled back, but it’s a mess from all of the cookie dough and sprinkles. Even with flour dusting his cheeks, Lance wants nothing more than to keep watching him.

He can feel the familiar itch on his face, making him stop all at once.

The marks.

Suddenly he moves away, scaring Keith instantly. Before any of them can react, the platter goes flying into the air, the dough falling all over the floor and their heads. Lance moans in disappointment, trying to remove the dough from his eyes and face.

Once he manages to do so, his eyes snap to the Black Paladin. The sigh of him makes him full out laugh. Keith’s hair was covered in dough everywhere, similar to a lion’s mane but with bits and pieces of sprinkles and colors. It’s super cute. Lance doubles in laughter.

“Ha ha” Keith comments dryly “Very funny”

“I cant-t-” Lance can’t breathe, his laughter increasing “Oh my god I’m gonna die!”

Keith growls in frustration, pushing towards him. A ball of dough connects with the side of his face. Lance doesn’t hesitate, taking a piece of dough and flinging it right at his friend. They both share a moment of silence, before taking all of the dough they can muster from the floor.

It feels like old times.

They both scramble away from each other, the two taking different positions in the kitchen. Lance takes all of the cookie dough from his face, quickly throwing them towards Keith. The Black Paladin chuckles, dodging most of the projectiles before throwing them right at his face as well.

Dough spills everywhere, as the stove continues to bake the cookies that were spared. Cleaning up was going to be a great hassle. But Lance could care less at the moment, full out laughing at the mess they were making. _Fuck it_ , he thinks before jumping out in the open and throwing all of his dough directly at Keith. But in that instant his feet slip.

It happens in slow motion, one second he’s looking at the kitchen and the next he’s looking up at the ceiling. Though the impact doesn’t come as a pair of hands wrap around his back, preventing him from meeting the floor. Lance looks up, seeing Keith in all of his glory right above him.

He fights the urge to reach and touch his hair, face, everywhere he could get his hands on, but he fears his feet might slip underneath him at any second.

Keith doesn’t speak, eyes never wavering away from his face. It’s unnerving and exciting at the same time, feeling all of Keith’s attention on him. A thought comes to mind, a memory with Allura. A look on the princess’ face. One directed right at him.

_What is going on?_

“Lance” Keith breathes in a small whisper. The way he pronounces his name sends butterflies to his chest “Lance I-“

And then a flash of blue.

Lance can see Kosmo’s face in a second before him and Keith collide with the floor. The cookie dough splatters everywhere, creating a bigger mess than before, but Lance could care less. His back aches, and he can hear Keith groaning in pain as well.

The cosmic wolf barely spares them a glance before he licking and eating all of the cookie dough around him. He hopes Kosmo doesn’t get sick from all of that.

“No Kosmo!” Keith sits up next to him, trying to stand up without slipping under the dough “Stop eating it!” Kosmo barks, and Lance thinks the animal is laughing at his poor master’s attempts. Keith lunges himself at the wolf but the animal barely flashes from one side of the room to the other. He wiggles his tail, excitement evident on the wolf’s face as his owner scrambles to get to him.

Lance sits up, and just stares right at Keith. His heart is doing somersaults inside his body and it’s leaving him breathless and dizzy. A soft hue of blue appears on his vision and instantly he recognizes the slight itch. His Altean marks. Gasping, Lance quickly covers them with his hands.

“What’s wrong?” Keith is right in front of him in a flash, concern etched on his face. Lance can’t speak, the words dying on his mouth at seeing him from up close “Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”

_I don’t know_ is what he wants to answer but he’s unable to say them. He manages to shake his head, eyes adverting from Keith’ face. If this keeps up he’ll combust into flames. The former Black Paladin doesn’t say anything, eyes still glued on his face, until Kosmo appears between the two.

He’s never been more thankful for the wolf’s appearance.

“You’re going to get a stomach-ache!” Keith reprimands his pet, as he tries to comb out the cookie dough from his fur. Kosmo instantly leaps right at his friend, covering him even more in dough. Keith yells in annoyance and tries to push away him away from his face.

Lance laughs a little bit to himself at the sight.

It’s quite endearing, seeing Keith so open and unguarded around him. It’s so different from back when they were paladins. Not only that but for them to be so open with each other after everything, it fills him with something indescribable. Past Lance would’ve laughed right in his face for that. But in all honesty, he can now admit that he always craved that openness with Keith.

Even if his younger self wouldn’t admit it out loud.

In a brief moment, his eyes shift back towards Keith. The boy is still trying to push the wolf away from his face, but his pet doesn’t seem to mind and continues to push. A smile over his lips, fond and dazzling all together.

Lance is long gone.

His heart gallops in his chest, butterflies exploding all around. He can feel a blush rise on his face and he struggles with this new found discovery. The glow coming from his marks intensifies, the blue glow filtering through his fingers.

This is not happening. This is not-

_Oh god._

He had fallen for him. He had fallen for the mullet-brain, reckless Black Paladin and caring best friend.

Lance liked Keith.

 

* * *

 

It was...well Lance couldn’t be that surprised by the development.

Back when they were Garrison students he had definitely felt something for Keith. No matter how minimal, it was still there. All of that jealousy, need for validation had to come from somewhere. Hunk had teased him about it and Lance decided to bury all semblance of feelings for his former rival. Then they were thrown to space and all of those feelings were thrown out the window upon meeting Allura.

“You’re staring again buddy”

Hunk’s voice snaps him out of the trance. Lance blinks, turning to his best friend question already rolling off his tongue.

“What are you talking about?”

“Keith” Hunk takes a sip from his coffee, hiding his amused smile behind the cup “You’ve been staring at him for the past twenty minutes.”

“I-I was not!” He exclaims, a dark blush already exposing his lies.

“You’ve been staring at him since he entered the cafeteria” The betrayal.

“He’s my friend, what I can’t stare at him now?!” His voice goes a bit higher, eyes locking onto Hunk. Nope, he’s not going to stare at Keith again. _No señor._

“Ah so you admit you were staring?” Hunk you funky bastard.

“ _Vete al carajo_ ” Lance groans into his hands, irritation flaring at Hunk’s laughter. He wasn’t staring that much. Well, maybe he was but that didn’t mean anything! So what if he was staring at Keith. Looking at his peaceful smile and laid back posture; eyes sparkling in the sun, glistening a soft shade of purple; long raven dark hair tied up in a messy ponytail. God he wants to tangle his hands in it-

He buries his face further into his arms, screaming internally at his train of thought.

_No fucking way. No way._

“You ready to accept it now?” Hunk whispers right in his ear, making him jump in his seat. Lance throws him a dirty look, retort on its way until he notices the person standing right in front of their table.

Keith really appears in the most unfortunate times.

“Hey” He greets them both, smile softening when his eyes turn to Lance. _Nope, nope, stop it brain._

“Hey Keith! We were just talking about you!” Hunk the ever annoying friend exclaims, a happy grin on his lips. Lance is going to murder him! He turns to the Yellow Paladin, eyes wide and frantic. He swears Hunk’s smile grows.

“Were you now?” Keith sounds amused, arms crossing over his chest as he continues to look at them both.

“Not!” Lance almost screams, several cadets from the Garrison turning their heads to look at them. He gives them a brief apology, cheeks flaring in embarrassment “We were just saying how bad you mullet looks”

“Still going on with my hair?” The former Black Paladin chuckles, his smile widening by the second. Lance notices too late he’s been staring at Keith’s lips instead of his eyes. The itch of his marks is inevitable by this point.

“I’ll stop when you cut it off”

“Do you really want me to?”

That throws him in a loop. Keith has this look on his face. As if he just knows that Lance would go absolutely bonkers if he ever goes through with the idea. The former Black Paladin looks almost smug, towering over Lance and it’s honestly freaking him out. Who knew Keith held this much power over him?

“I’m-”

“Kogane the meeting starts in five” The voice of James Griffin cuts through the conversation, the three of them turning to look at him. Lance never thought he would be happy to see Griffin, much less talking with him. He can feel the Altean Marks dimly glowing, and he prays they burn out soon. He doesn’t need other snitches in on the case.

“Sure I’ll catch up in a few” Keith responds, smile disappearing in an instant. Lance is no stranger to the animosity Keith feels towards Griffin, he had seen their countless of fights back when they were kids. Not that he liked James that much anyway. The guy is one of the best pilots in their generation that’s for sure, and he wasn’t the leader of the MFE’s for nothing. Even then, Lance didn’t like him.

“Something on your mind?” He notices the affection running through Griffin’s voice and something stills in his mind. James doesn’t even register him and Hunk by the table, eyes settled solely on Keith. The dense mullet-head obviously doesn’t even register the look on his eyes.

Lance recognizes the expression on James’ face and _god fucking carajo!_

His Altean marks switch off just like that.

He’s no stranger to this feeling. It plagued his mind back when Allura hanged out with Lotor in the Castle of Lions. Grimacing at the memory, he tries pushing the feeling away. There’s no need for that, none of it. He can’t feel this way, it’s not healthy, it’s not right. But looking at Griffin as he inches closer to Keith, makes something snap.

“James I think Rizavi was looking for you back in the training lounge” Hunk pipes up, before he even opened his mouth “She was saying something about modifying the MFE ships. Fusing them with some Olkarion tech”

“What?!” James exclaims, completely oblivious to Hunk’s intervention “Ugh I’ll strangle her if she messes up the ships.” He turns, already heading out of the cafeteria, before he turns to them again. Turns back to Keith specifically.

“Want to help me look for her? I’ll be quick and then we’ll go to the meeting”

Lance wants to seriously punch James in the fucking face. It feels like the universe is laughing at him yet again for all of this.

Allura flickers in his mind and he stops.  

“You should go” Lance speaks up “Don’t want to run late to the meeting”

Maybe it’s for the best.

He can’t think of Keith in this way. His mind is probably mixing things up from Allura’s passing. It’s barely been two years since she passed away, he can’t feel like this for someone else. It’s not fair for her. It’s not fair for either of them.

_It’s too soon, I can’t do this to them._

Hunk gives him an odd look, but he focuses solely on Keith. The boy in question blinks, eyes shifting towards Griffin for a few seconds before turning back to him. He looks like he wants to say something but holds back.

“I’ll see you around then” Keith bides them a quick farewell, eyes turning to Griffin. Lance ignores the bile in his chest rising up as he looks at Keith and James exiting the cafeteria. Stop it, stop it, stop it-

Once the door closes behind them, Lance practically slumps in the table in front of them. He wants to dig his own fucking grave. He groans, shielding his head with his arms, everything swirling in his head.

“That was a dumb move” Hunk comments, eyes still shifting between him and the door of the cafeteria “If you wanted James to back off, that didn’t help“

“Shut up Hunk” He mutters, still not looking up from his cocoon “Griffin can stay with Keith for all I care, it’s not my business anyways”

“You don’t look happy about it though” His best friend comments. Lance doesn’t speak after that, Hunk’s statement bouncing in his mind. _Of course I wouldn’t be happy if James ended up with Keith, es un pinche pendejo_ he thinks. But at the same time, he knows that’s not entirely true. If Keith were to end up with anyone else, would he be happy?

Lance grimaces, hiding his face underneath his arms.

 

* * *

 

“Is it okay to feel something for someone?”

“What is this about Lance?”

Shiro was no better in this department at all.

“I said what I said” He grumbles, hiding under the fort of pillows he made in Shiro’s lounge. The Captain of the Atlas only laughs somewhere around his room. The team agreed they would spend some quality time together at least once a week. And that usually meant crashing in Shiro’s extremely private captain lounge and make a mess of it constantly.

Today though was the exception. Both Pidge and Hunk were off experimenting who knows what and claimed they would drop in later that night. Keith had two meetings with the Blades for the rest of the afternoon and as well would drop in by dinner. That only left him and Shiro.

Lance thought that maybe, just maybe Shiro could provide him a bit of insight on this whole new feelings for someone thingy. He had done it before back when Allura had recently passed away. And maybe he would do it now that he felt something towards Keith. Not only something but now that he felt…more than before.

_Ugh this is so hard to put into words._

“I said, is it okay to feel something for someone?” He repeats the question, peeking through one of the cushions to look at the man strolling around the lounge. Shiro turns to him with a cheeky grin before plopping down onto the couch as well. There’s this look on his eyes and Lance feels already exposed.

“Feel something for someone?” Shiro muses out loud, looking pensive “Care to elaborate?”

“You know, like feeling certain emotions for someone in specific” He’s not saying anything else and that’s final, Shiro can’t get him to confess. At least not that easily.

“And you’re asking if that’s okay?”

“Yes?” God now Shiro is making him doubt about this stuff. He props his chin over one of the cushions, hugging it tightly against his chest. The man looks at him for a moment, and then chuckles.

“Do you feel something for your family Lance?” The man muses, gathering a few reports from the coffee table and shifting through them.

“Of course I do” He answers without a beat, frowning already at the question.

“Is it something specific?”

“I think so?” Lance blinks “I mean familial love is something specific right? The love I feel for them is different from what I feel for you guys”

“And do you think that’s okay?” Shiro is really coming out to get him now. Lance grumbles, pushing himself further down into the pillows, ignoring the man’s chuckles “Do you think it’s wrong whatsoever?”

“No” He starting to think that maybe asking the man wasn’t his brightest idea. Though his options on people to ask was getting thinner by the day. Hunk already knows and Pidge would instantly figure out who’s he’s referring to; Veronica would pry him open of his secrets and thus all of the family would know; Rizavi? Maybe but he’s pretty sure she would spill the beans to Griffin; Romelle sucks at keeping secrets, so no; And thus the only ones left are either Coran or Shiro.

“No?”

“I mean yes!” Lance groans “It’s okay to feel something specific for someone” It feels like he’s being pestered by his parents. Shiro is giving him an amused smile, surely he is enjoying this.

“What brought this on?” The Captain of the Atlas ponders and Lance pouts in response. That only gets him a chuckle “You don’t what to share with the class?”

“Agh you make this so difficult” He retorts, sitting up from his position. He shuffles a bit, the pillow now resting over his chest as he continues to hug it “It’s just, I-I’ve been feeling certain things around someone”

“Good things?” There’s a hint of worry in that question and it brings a genuine smile over his lips.

“I like to believe so” Lance chuckles nervously, brushing his hair back with one of his hands “I-I mean it’s good I think” The image of Keith flashes briefly in his mind and he can feel the blush coming at him.

“Aw you’re thinking about them aren’t you?” Shiro coos with adoration and he flushes in embarrassment “Oh my god, your cheeks really turn pink!"

“Stop it!” Lance hits him right on the shoulder with the pillow and the man only laughs harder. He hits him again and then Shiro is grabbing another pillow and hitting him right back “Oh it’s on grandpa!”

“I’m well into my youth!”

They both dissolve into a giggling mess, each trying to get the other to give up the fight. Lance doesn’t hold back and throws cushion after cushion at Shiro’s face, not slowing down in the least. The Captain of the Atlas laughs and tries dodging every single pillow aimed at him with ease. It’s not long before Lance feels his arms becoming noodles and promptly lies down on the floor.

“I win” Shiro says in triumph and lands a pillow right over Lance’s face.

“I’m way too tired to fight back” He grunts in response.

“Are you finally telling me who you’re thinking about?”

Lance takes the pillow in hand and rolls around to face Shiro. He squints a bit, his cheeks already reddening in embarrassment again. God he feels like such a high school girl talking about her crush. He holds the pillow tighter, pressing his face onto it.

“I don’t wanna” He whines, his legs moving up and down from where he’s lying on the floor. He hears Shiro laugh out loud but still doesn’t comment anything. Lance looks up and his friend is still looking back at him “You didn’t answer my first question though”

“Do you really need my response for that?” The former Black Paladin smiles, nudging a bit closer to where he is on the floor.

“It’s just-“ Lance sighs, struggling to form the sentence in his mind. How does he go around with this? “When you started dating Curtis, did you ever feel guilty about…?”

He doesn’t need to finish the question. Shiro’s smile saddens a bit and then he’s dropping onto the floor along with him. They stay silent for a moment, and Lance is debating himself if he should’ve asked that kind of question to Shiro now that he’s engaged with Curtis.

“I did” His eyes widen as he turns to look at his friend. The Captain of the Atlas is looking somewhere far off into the lounge, eyes misty and filled with longing “I felt guilty that I was here. That I was alive. And I also felt guilty for falling in love with Curtis after Adam had passed away”

Lance gulps, holding the pillow closer to his body and listens intently.

“It was difficult” Shiro explains “I kept going in circles to what happened with Adam and how strongly I feel now for Curtis. It was extremely confusing for me, and there were times when I didn’t even know what my feelings were regarding the two of them. It felt like I was replacing Adam with Curtis and that wasn’t fair for either one of them”

Allura and Keith both flash in an instant inside his mind and he feels the same guilt washing over him. Lance nods along with Shiro’s story and just keeps listening. He knows he’s been getting over the princess. But was that okay?

Was it okay to like someone else after Allura?

“But eventually I moved past it” His friend smiles and looks back at him “I loved Adam, with everything I had. Maybe if things were different I would still be with him or we would’ve broken up, who knows? But I can’t dwell on the what ifs. Curtis has been a real treasure with me. Patient and never judging for what I went through”

Lance knew that Shiro and Curtis loved each other. They wouldn’t leave each other’s side if they could help it. It is until now that Lance understands the extend of Shiro’s feelings towards his fiancé. A rush of heat engulfs him from the inside and he almost feels like crying.

“Knowing Adam he would’ve beat my ass if I spent all of my life wallowing in loss” His friend laughs, but there’s sadness beneath it. He understands“Allura wouldn’t hesitate to punch you across the galaxy for not moving on I believe”

“She kinda of already did” Lance chuckles, his mind going back to that night when the lions disappeared. He knows Allura, and he also knows that she would be happy for him if the chance arose for him to be with someone else. That didn’t mean that he was free of guilt for what could occur “It’s just-agh I’m still struggling with it”

“It’s okay” Shiro says, the ever patient man and great friend “If the person you’re into right now is the correct one, they won’t push anything forward. It’s okay to take time, don’t rush it”

Lance laughs, a few tears already slipping by. He quickly wipes them away, still chuckling as he does so. He pictures Allura and Keith once again, standing side by side. If he ever came around to confessing his new-found feelings to Keith, would he wait for him? Would Keith be patient with him?

_Of course he would estúpido._

“Thank you Shiro” He sniffs, finally calming down from his high “I really needed that”

“It’s all right” His friend smiles and softly pats his head. Lance chuckles again, furrowing deeper into his pillow. Keith’s face appears once again and this time he doesn’t push it away and just relishes in it. Wonders to himself if they would ever go as far as Shiro and Curtis have.

“Is it Keith?” He stills at the mention of his name, eyes snapping open towards his friend. Shiro stopped petting him and just stares back at him mouth agape, as if he’s shocked with that revelation as well. They continue staring at each other.

“You say anything to him and I swear Shiro you-”

“Oh my god!”

Lance moves away, cheeks flushing red again and surely his Altean marks start glowing too. Shiro gapes once more, pacing around his lounge from one side to the other. Then he all together stops, a serious expression coming over his face.

“Keith would be perfect candidate for you” He says with the utmost conviction and Lance lights up again “No, think about it Lance! He’s caring, brave, nice and would be a perfect boyfriend for you!”

“Shiro stop!” His heart is about to combust and god is it hot in here?

“I’m only listing Keith’s good qualities!” Not that he doesn’t know them already “Keith and you would be a perfect match I guarantee it!”

_“Shiroooooo!”_

 

* * *

 

Things got a bit weirder after that revelation.

Lance would often find himself looking at Keith, completely mesmerized at sight of the man before him. Even Pidge picked up on his strange habit and demanded answers. Of course he refused to say anything, but he shouldn’t be surprised if she and Hunk were gossiping about the topic behind his back.

Not only them though, the whole Garrison seemed to be on it to. The rest of the cadets would only give him starry eyes whenever he was walking or talking with Keith. It seemed no one had better things to do and were expecting something to happen. Lance would kindly like to tell them to fuck off. But Shiro would probably end up scolding him for something like that.

“I don’t know how you do it Lance I swear” Rizavi comments, stretching out on the floor of the training room “First stretching for like 40 minutes, that’s insane! Second you run like for a fucking hour what’s wrong with you?!”

Lance laughs beside her, sweat dripping from his forehead. He quickly wipes it out with a small towel, his arms and legs aching from the workout. He shouldn’t be pushing himself too hard, his limbs might break any second from all of that training.

“You get used to it I guess?” He wonders and the girl only huffs out in annoyance. The training room is only occupied by him, Rizavi and Kinkade, the later rarely speaking up between their banter.

“Not helping at all McClain!” Rizavi sighs, plopping herself down onto the floor. The girl looks already exhausted beyond measure and they had barely started the workout. Kinkade on the other hand seems good as new.

“Come on Nadia, we still have to do the push-ups and-“

“Nope, nope, nope! I refuse!” Nadia screeches, rolling on her stomach to look up at him “Why don’t we have a more private chat?”

Kinkade shoves her shoulder making her cry out in pain. Lance eyes them both, frowning at the thought. Chat? Chat about what? Nadia and him did talk often, with the two of them being Garrison instructors and each having their own class, they were bound to discuss topics and new lectures. But private talking? Gushing about boys or girls the two of them together? Yeah that didn’t happen.

“Stop it!” Rizavi slaps away Kinkade’s hand, rolling a few meters away from the man. She then turns to Lance, mischievous smile over her lips. Now he gets why she and Pidge hang around so much “I can tell you all the gossip regarding Shiro and Curtis”

“Please, I know all about that” Lance smirks, crossing his arms. Hell he’s the one spreading the gossip about them!

“Veronica and Acxa’s relationship”

“They’re friends?” Lance wonders if they are really in a relationship. They were either really good friends or Veronica was really fucking dense regarding romantic relationships.

“Kogane’s crush!”

“What?!” He yells. Rizavi looks proud and Kinkade only rolls his eyes at them “Keith has a crush?!”

“You didn’t know?” She muses, looking at her nails, smugness dripping from her voice “Wouldn’t you like to know who it is?”

“I-I don’t?” Lance screams at himself. _Of course he wants to fucking know!_ “I-I mean Keith can tell me whenever he’s ready or anything!” Yeah that’s it! If Keith really did have a crush on anyone he would’ve told him, of course he would! But then again, maybe Keith did have a crush on someone and he didn’t trust Lance enough with that secret.

“But if it was someone from Voltron?”

Lance whips his head towards her, eyes bulging out. Someone from Voltron?

“That got your interest?”

“I-I” He doesn’t even know what to answer and instead just plops in the floor in front of her. Kinkade rolls his eyes, approaching the two of them to make a small circle.

“So you want to know about Keith’s crush huh?” Rizavi nudges Lance’s arm. He slaps her hand away, ignoring her whine and thinks. Keith has a crush, okay that’s pretty normal. Keith has a crush from someone in Voltron. That’s a shocker.

The question is who?

Lance isn’t even sure if Keith’s into girls, so he rules out both Romelle and Pidge. Then there’s Shiro, but he’s already in a relationship with Curtis so no. Coran is like a thousand years old. The only one left is Hunk…

_It could be Hunk_ he thinks.

“Are you sure it’s someone from Voltron?” Lance asks, eyes wide and heart thundering. Hunk’s been supporting his feelings around Keith, but they never took into consideration that maybe the former Black Paladin had feelings for Hunk. No, no, no. His best friend comes first over any crush and whatsoever.

And Hunk’s a sweetheart, him and Keith would make the perfect couple.

“100% sure” Rizavi gives him a wink and that’s all he needs.

There’s a beat of silence before he speaks again.

“It’s Hunk isn’t it?”

There’s a beat of silence between the three of them.

“Oh my god” Rizavi moans, smashing her face against the floor “When Pidge said you were dense I didn’t think this much”

“Hey!” Lance cries, heart galloping in his chest. Okay so maybe it wasn’t Hunk? “If it’s not Hunk then who?! There’s no one else left in Voltron!”

Rizavi groans out loud once more but provides no answer for him.

“Are you counting yourself in there?”

Lance turns to Kinkade, mouth agape. The MFE pilot is looking directly at him, arms crossed over his chest and a bare hint of annoyance in his face.

“Me?” He asks, frowning even deeper to himself. Well it was true that he was a member of Voltron, no doubt about that. But him? Could Keith have a crush on him? “No, no, no! There’s no way it’s me!”

“Why not?” Kinkade muses.

“Because!” The words tumble out of his mouth and he’s not even sure if they make sense “Keith doesn’t see me that way! We’re like space ranger partners and we’ve traveled together for a long time. He’s courageous, kind, determined, a super cool pilot and-” He gulps a breath of air “-and I don’t have any of that”

No one speaks after that and god he made it awkward now. Nope just throw him off the roof, he doesn’t want this tension now.

“That’s right” Kinkade starts and Lance’s eyes widen in horror “You don’t have any of that because you’re not Kogane. You’re Lance McClain, ex-pilot of the Red Lion, Garrison professor, outgoing, reliable, honest and one of the most selfless people I’ve ever met”

“You’re such a sap” Rizavi giggles earning another shove from Kinkade.

Lance doesn’t know how to respond to any of that. He continues to look at the MFE pilot, a blush already adorning his own cheeks. _Geez, I never thought Kinkade saw me like that._

“I…” He starts, making the two MFE pilots turn back to him “Thank you Kinkade. I really needed that”

“Glad to be of help” The boy pats Lance’s shoulder with a fond smile. Rizavi smirks and before the two of them can register it, she shoves Kinkade forward.

Lance grunts as his back hits the mat, pain shooting across his spine instantly. His eyes try to adjust just as they come in contact with Kinkade’s hazel ones. They’re really close, _extremely close_ he would say. Their noses almost brush with one another. His cheeks flush a deep scarlet, the itch of his marks coming in as well. And to top it all off, Kinkade looms above his body, hips aligned with each other. To anyone not knowing, they look like they were…

“Nadia what the hell!” The MFE pilot screams, his cheeks dusted pink. To see Kinkade already losing his composure makes Lance flush in embarrassment all over again.

And just like that, the door of the training room opens.

“Maybe if we fuse Kosmo’s treats with mango you could eat them too? I mean I’m not- Whoa! _Hey!_ ”

Hunk gapes at the entrance, eyes shifting between Lance and Kinkade. Right next to him are James and of course freaking Keith.

‘We were just training!’ Lance wants to yell, give out any excuse for this situation while the other part of his mind yells that he doesn’t need to give any sort of explanation. But the words on his mouth die out just by watching Keith’s expression.

The shift between calm and enraged is instant.

Lance swears he’s only seen that murderous intent on Keith’s face when they were battling Sendak. There’s this aura that wraps around his friend and in a blink the former Black Paladin is yanking Kinkade off of him.

“What happened?” Keith snarls and god he sounds hot even like that. _Control yourself._

“Nothing!” Lance stutters, sitting up instantly. Kinkade frees himself from Keith’s grip, not bothering and sending him a death glare as well “We were just training and then-“

“Then Kinkade tripped!” Rizavi appears right next to Kinkade, eyes shifting between him and James. Both of the MFE’s take no notice “Oh yeah, it was horrible! Lance and him were fighting one on one-“

Rizavi continues with some weird and long explanation about what supposedly happened and Lance can hardly keep up. Hunk comes up next to him and wordlessly stretches out his hand. He takes it without complain, barely able to stand.

“You okay buddy?” Hunk whispers and he only manages a slight nod. He turns back to the scene before him. Kinkade is still glaring at Keith, Nadia is re-telling some lie and James has his arms crossed over his chest, giving Lance a stink eye. He would’ve returned it without a problem if he wasn’t so nervous about the whole situation.

It is then when his eyes meet Keith’s.

There’s a storm brewing in them and he can’t look away. Keith is searching for something in his gaze. A question, an answer, he doesn’t know but he could gladly drown in those deep indigo eyes.

Lance gulps, trying to stand straighter but a pain shoots immediately down his spine. He yelps and Keith is like a moth to a flame.

“Are you hurt?” He’s way too close, but Lance doesn’t push him away. If anything he craves the proximity between each other. Just like that, Keith puts a hand on his back and is guiding him away from the training room.

“W-Wait Keith! I’m fine, I swear!” He cries, trying to slow his friend down but to no avail. Hunk whistles and if his back wasn’t hurting as much as it did, he would’ve had a serious talk about privacy and secrets with his best friend.

“Kogane you promised to train both me and Garrett here” James interjects in their way out of the training room. Lance tries not to scowl at the other boy, keeping his eyes downcast “You walking out or what?”

“Lance comes first” He looks up, heart thundering on his chest at Keith’s words. The former Black Paladin tightens his hold on him, highlighting his previous statement before speaking again “Besides, I’m sure Hunk doesn’t mind having the session another day”

“Oh nope, I’m fine like this thank you!” Hunk’s voice is way too cheery for someone who just lost hours of training.

“There you go” Keith turns back to James, frowning at the intrusion “Now I have to get Lance to the infirmary”

The leader of the MFE’s sighs and reluctantly steps away. Keith doesn’t waste a second and they’re both out of the training room and already crossing the end of the hall. Lance wants to add that his injury isn’t that severe. Sure the throbbing is going to be a bitch in the long run but he could manage.

But he would be lying if he didn’t admit that seeing Keith all worried for him made him happy. Ecstatic even.

Lance steals another glance at his friend, his heart soaring at the worried look on his face. He presses even closer to him and just like that Keith links one of his hands with his. No one speaks on their way to the infirmary.

 

* * *

 

The Blade of Marmora seemed to be on it too.

“Keith is a very responsible member” Kolivan comments from behind his pad, ears twitching at the stifled laughter coming from Ezor “Always on time and very dedicated”

“Extremely dedicated I would say” Acxa brushes the hair off her face, dusting her uniform while doing so. Zethrid grunts in response, picking up box after box to pile them onto the small Galran ship they were taking. The three ex-members of Lotor’s group were all going to scout for plants across their galaxy who were in need of help. Kolivan was still reluctant to let the three of them go together and thus appointed Keith as their temporary leader.

Which meant Keith was leaving them for a month or so.

“Ooooh wouldn’t you know that Acxa?” Ezor coos at her friend, tapping away at the ship’s control panel “He was your favorite paladin for a reason”

“He wasn’t” Acxa says, annoyance seeping in her tone. Lance turns to her, still not used to being around her, but trusting her a bit more than both Ezor and Zethrid combined. He wants to push away that feeling of jealousy once again, but the scowl is inevitable “You seem un-pleased Lance”

“I’m fine” He retorts, turning away from her to focus on the boxes they were storing into the ship. Nope, nope, nope. He’s not jealous of Acxa at all. He has enough with el _pendejo_ de Griffin, he doesn’t want to deal with a Galran girl on top of it. He’s still not even sure Keith’s into girls, but if he were Acxa would be just his type, he knows it.

“Someone’s jealous!” Ezor sings, dancing from her place to stand right beside him “Aw don’t worry small Red Paladin no one’s taking away your leader!” She pokes his cheek and Lance swats her hand away. The Galra giggles, poking his cheek once again to get the same reaction out of him.

“Stop it!”

“Aw but you’re so adorable! Look your cheeks are even pink!”

“They’re not!” He covers his face the best he can, but he knows Ezor is right.

“Stop bullying him” Speaking of the prince of Rome. Keith strolls into the scene, Krolia and Kosmo right next to him. Lance was used to seeing Keith in his usual Blade of Marmora outfit and he had to admit that the boy looked good in it. Almost deadly to his health.

But this was fucking murdering him.

Keith was wearing the usual attire given to the Blade leaders, one just like his mother and Kolivan. Lance never gave much thought regarding that usual uniform but Keith was on another level. The outfit looked great on the former Black Paladin. Scratch that, it looked fantastic.

“Now someone’s red” Ezor whispers, a cheeky grin over her lips. Lance scowls, turning away from her to look back at Keith. Who in turn was already walking towards him.

_Ay dios bendito._

“I didn’t think you’d be coming here” Keith smiles and it makes his stomach do somersaults. Kosmo barks and in a flash of blue is instantly by his side. The cosmic wolf chirps, burying his face between his legs.

“Your mother told me you were going away. I wanted to wish you luck” He grins, dropping to his knees and taking Kosmo’s face in his hands _“Ay precioso!”_ He pets his head with one hand and the other rubs the wolfs fur.

“We’re only going away for a month” His friend mumbles, eyes darting towards the ship in front of them. Lance keeps rubbing the space wolf, the comment rumbling in his mind.

Only a month he says.

“A month is a long time” He kisses Kosmo’s forehead and stands up. The memory of Keith leaving them for the Blade of Marmora rewinds over his mind and he can’t help his jittery nerves. They can say it’s only a month but no one can assure him that they won’t take longer if many planets need their help. Millions of races waiting for some sort of help or opportunity and here Lance was worrying over nothing.

“They’ll be back before you know it” Krolia pats his head, giving him a soft smile that he can’t help but return “Keith’s gonna take good care of them, he’s a great caretaker you know”

“Mom!” Keith yells, embarrassment flooding his face. Lance blinks.

“Extremely efficient I would say” Kolivan pipes up once more, ignoring Keith’s indigent cries in the background “If you take Kosmo as an example, he would be a great father”

Keith is blushing from head to toe, eyes wide and mouth agape. Honestly Lance would relish in the sight if he wasn’t so confused.

“And a great husband” Krolia gives him a little nudge. Lance opens and closes his mouth, eyes darting between her and Keith over and over again. Were they actually recommending Keith to him as a potential partner? A potential boyfriend? Potential husband?

His legs shake and he almost falls to the floor if it weren’t for Krolia supporting him. She laughs out loud at his expression and Lance is so out of it that he can’t help but to grip her shoulder back.

Suddenly Keith is in front of him, face still flushed but eyes darting around his face. He feels the itch of his marks coming but he forces it down, _not fucking here, not now!_ Krolia then pushes him away and in turn he falls right onto Keith’s embrace.

Lance gasps, reeling back from their close proximity, but Keith still holds onto him. His heart hammers in his chest, threatening to burst out all together. It’s never felt like this. Not with anyone he’s ever been before.

Not even with Allura.

There’s a flash in the background and the moment breaks.

“Oh no! No, no, no! Don’t mind me!” Veronica whines, holding out her phone, probably taking more pictures of the two of them “Go back to your starry eyed pose”

_“Veronica te voy a matar!”_ Lance screams, recovering from his anger or his stupor. He doesn’t know which one is it.

_“Déjate de niñerías y bésalo!”_ Veronica giggles at his flushed expression and he’s seriously going to murder her.

“Stop it” Acxa scolds her, lacing their hands together without a second thought.

“I just want to give them a tiny nudge, that’s all!”

He’s about to walk over to his sister and just go at it, when Keith stops him. Lance turns to look at him, and what exactly is going on?

Keith doesn’t look away from his face.

It’s as if he’s memorizing every single thing over it. His eyes roam every crevice and pore and Lance can’t stop the marks from glowing all together. The former Black Paladin breathes out a laugh, face inching closer than before. Lance can only look back at him and drown in those captivating indigo eyes. It’s beautiful.

And just like that, Keith presses his lips to his cheek.

Before he registers it, Keith is already walking away. Walking towards the ship, back turned to him. Ezor coos, cheering besides Zethrid, who in turn has her arms wrapped around her girlfriend. Kolivan rolls his eyes, a pleased smile plastered on his lips. And Krolia is giggling behind her hands.

He feels like a fucking Christmas tree, marks glowing white.

“Don’t get in trouble while I’m gone” Keith says, voice shaky and still unable to turn back towards him “I-We’ll be back before you know it”

Lance can only nod, not trusting himself to speak just yet. He hears Veronica giggling in the back, but he keeps his eyes trained on Keith. A thousand questions swarm his mind. He needs the answers, right fucking now, but at the same time he also needs time to think. What was that? Was it a friendly kiss or a-a kiss kiss?

_Oh my god no one goes around kissing people just because they’re friends. Least of all Keith!_

“S-Stay safe!” He stutters, cursing himself for his shakiness. _Come on McClain get a fucking grip!_ Kosmo nudges his arm one last time before trotting towards the ship.

He sees Veronica and Acxa walking together towards the front of the ship, their hands still laced together. They continue to look at each other and just like that Acxa kisses his sister right in the lips.

Lance gasps in shock, and hears Veronica’s quiet gasp before melting all together into the kiss. Acxa takes a few steps back, giving Veronica’s hand one last squeeze and then lets go, walking towards the ship.

“I-You! _Puta madre!”_ Veronica yells, flushing from head to toe “Acxa come back here!”

“I’ll see you in a month darling” The Galra doesn’t turn back, entering the ship confident as ever. Well one less thing he has to worry about.

The engine of the ship roars to life as the compartment door starts to close. Lance sees Acxa muttering something to Keith, before he blushes a deep shade of red. The former Black Paladin finally turns towards him, cheeks a deep tone of red. Lance can still feel his marks glow, but he doesn’t cover them at the moment. He sees Keith’s smile as the door slip shut.

The ship flies through the air and in a matter of seconds it’s gone, only a trail of smoke left behind. Krolia sighs beside him, before moving next to Koliva, the two already discussing the next plans for the upcoming missions

Lance keeps his eyes trained on the gray clouds. A month. He breathes in and out. Just 30 days without being next to Keith. _I can do it, easy._

But the memories of Keith leaving for the Blade appear once again, and he prays they don’t find some sort of planet where time is different that what they know. _Just a month, it’ll only be a month._

“Just 30 days Lance” Veronica says, standing right next to him. Her eyes are trained on the sky “We can do it”

“I-Yeah” He stutters “I hope so”

Neither of them speak, not taking their eyes off the sky. Lance wonders if Keith is already out of Earth’s atmosphere.

“You didn’t tell me you and Acxa were a thing” He stutters. Veronica splutters beside him, and smacks him right on the back of his head _“Que carajos Veronica!”_

_“No me hables así!”_ She yelps, a furious blush returning to her cheeks “We-we’re just friends! We aren’t dating!”

“Oh sure and what about that kiss huh?” Vero covers her eyes, shaking her head in denial. Lance snickers, trying to poke one of her cheeks “Acxa and Veronica sitting in a tree! K-I-S-“

_“Cállate!”_ His sister yelps, smacking his hands away “You’re no better! All putty in Keith’s hands!”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?!”

“You tell me you freaking light bulb!”

 

* * *

 

Days passed by and it was torture.

Never in his life, even when he was in space, did the days pass by so fucking slow. The universe was taunting him, that was the only explanation to this. A week had barely passed since Keith and his group left for space and Lance felt a dullness settling over.

When Allura passed away it was horrible, and there are days when Lance still feels the impact of her death with the same force. He couldn’t sleep, eat, breathe properly and it was shit. Nothing mattered.

Now that Keith left, it felt similar but in a different way. Lance would space out for the longest times. During meals, classes, chats, at all times his mind wandered off. And his thoughts would point back to Keith. Memories of when Keith first left them for the Blade of Marmora haunted him at night, keeping him awake and restless for hours. Assumption of what could happen, what could go wrong filled him up with nerves and anxiety to no end.

He knew Keith would come back after the mission, but the dread lingered.

It was the weirdest thing ever.

“Professor McClain!”

Lance blinks, looking down from his pad to see a crowd of his younger students in front of him. He was spacing out way too much with that new dose his therapist gave him. He should email her later.

“Hey kiddos” He greets and kneels down to see them eye to eye “What’s up?”

“Do you know when the Black Paladin is coming back from his mission?” One of the kids asks as the rest of them nod along. Lance swears theses kids know too much for their own good.

“He’s to return in three weeks” He can barely form a smile over his face, but hey he has to try for the little ones “You’ll have to wait for him to give you more lessons”

A couple of kids groan in displeasure and honestly he sympathizes with them.

“Do you miss him?” Lance blinks, focusing on the little girl staring right back at him.

“I-I” The doubt and questions regarding Keith swirl on his mind again. He tries to find an answer, a clear path as to where he’s headed and what he wants. He feels a throb resounding in his head, and he doesn’t know if it’s from the question or his own doubts.

The only answer is that he wants to see Keith.

“I do” He whispers, coughing at the raspiness of his voice “I miss him a lot”

The little girl once again steps up, patting both of his cheeks. The girl giggles in response, blinding smile over her lips as she continues with her petting.

“He’ll always be here” She says, one of her small hands pointing towards his heart “Just three weeks more”

Lance laughs at her, already feeling at ease. The other kids come closer to him, some even coming up to offer him a hug. These kids are really a blessing. He smiles and returns each of their affections until there’s a ring vibrating throughout the hall, indicating the end of their lunch break.

Many kids groan out loud and he’s reminded of himself back when he was in the Garrison. They bid him farewell, as the crowd of children head towards their next class for the day.

Lance smiles as he watches them walk away and disappear on the far end of the hallway. What a bunch of perceptive kids. He straightens up and feels the throb spike up again. He blinks again, almost losing his footing in doing so.

What was that?

“Hey Lance!” Pidge’s booming voice increased his headache once more and he couldn’t help but to wince in response. He looks up and the girl is already there, a frown covering her face “Hey you okay? You look a bit pale”

“Hello to you too Pidgeon” He winces, rubbing his forehead over and over. He really should talk to his therapist about this. Sleeping around six hours was better than three, so in that regard he was getting better and the pills were helping him to a certain extent. _Maybe it’s the new dose_ he thinks and sighs. More problems for future Lance “I’m fine, just a bit tired I guess”

“You sure?” She insists, hand hovering over his “Maybe you should go and take a quick nap”

“I’m fine. I’ll sleep right after classes end” He brushes her away, finally meeting her gaze “Were you looking for me?”

“Oh right! Matt and I finally finished programming Chip! We’re going to try to get him to speak, you want to watch?”

“He’s going to talk?!” He screeches, and there’s a spike of pain resounding on his head. Okay so clam down “Of course I’ll go. Lead the way Pidgeotto”

“You sure? You feel good enough to come watch?” He nods in response and Pidge only gives him a look. She hesitates before mocking him to follow after her.

They don’t speak much after that as they make their way to what Lance thinks is the Holt’s laboratory. Pidge still gives him these weird looks and ignoring them is getting pretty annoying.

With each step he takes, he can feel his body sort of zooming out. His vision coming in and out of focus. It’s dizzying and a spiral of things. It forces him to press his hand towards the wall, trying to regain some balance as they continue to walk through the hallway. And then suddenly they’re standing right in front of the lab. When did they get here?

Pidge swipes her member card and the door to the lab opens with a soft hiss. The sound of whirls and metal greets him, making his headache increase tenfold. He walks forward, holding back a wince.

“You should take some aspirin or something” The girl says, before trudging towards a large table with thousands of cables and wires thrown everywhere.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it” Lance walks next to her and in all of that mess, he can finally recognize the robot named Chip. He had to admit, that seeing a small boy with only his head and torso attached did give him a bit of the creeps.

“Yo Lance!” He turns and there’s Matt Holt, carrying what seems to be Chip’s extremities on his arms. The ex-rebel smiles and then takes Chip’s arm to wave hello to him “What brings you to our humble lab?”

“Your sister dragged me here” Earning a glare from the girl.

“I just told him we’re working on Chip’s speech, he insisted on coming” She drones on, taking out her data pad and typing a series of numbers in it. Suddenly the robot’s eyes came to life, emitting a soft blue hue around them. Lance gasped and turned back to Chip “Okay let’s see if it still works…”

The robot blinks his eyelids and then moves his mouth. Lance wasn’t a tech enthusiast like Pidge or Hunk but even he was excited for the robot to start talking. Matt moves towards the table, placing Chip’s arms and legs on it. He connects a few more cables into the robot’s body and then a crack vibrates around the room.

Lance feels the headache pound at his head once more, but forces it back down. He’ll nap a bit on his office before heading to his last lectures and then sleep for the rest of the day. Pidge taps in another set of code into the tablet until the robot stays silent. Then the sound of a dog barking is vibrating out of Chip’s mouth.

“Well it’s partially working” Matt Holt mumbles, inching closer to Pidge’s tablet “Try changing the pitch from 8 to 4 maybe that’s why we can understand it” His sister does as told and then the barking is replaced by a bird chirping.

“Maybe he talks in animal?” Lance muses as the two brothers continue to type into the data pad. Chip goes silent once again before a booming voice speaks through him.

“-I’ll try contacting them once again this afternoon” It’s a deep male voice speaking right back to them. Lance turns to Pidge but the girl stops in between code to look at the robot “We lost their signal somewhere between yesterday at 06 hours and 09 hours”

“Are you making him say this?” Lance asks the girl who in turn only shakes her head. He frowns, turning back to the robot. That voice sounds strangely familiar for some reason.

“Krolia and I’ve been trying to contact them during the morning but it seems none of our messages have gone through-“ Krolia? Lance’s frown deepens as he inches closer to the robot “-we’re unsure of what could prevent us from contacting them.”

“It’s Kolivan, isn’t it?” Pidge muses out loud. There’s a beat of silence before the voice speaks up once again.

“We think this is an act by Honerva’s supporters and the like” Pidge is right, the voice belongs to Kolivan “But we have no ways of knowing if they were ambushed, captured or worse”

“Who’s he talking about?” Matt asks out loud.

Lance muses, brushing the hair out of his eyes. Indeed, who is Kolivan talking about? According to his message it’s a recent mission, who’ve they been in contact with almost daily. Him and Krolia were most likely the ones supporting it. But who’s group was it-

Keith.

Something drops in his stomach as he turns to look at Chip once again.

Not Keith, no there’s no way it’s about his mission right. His vision becomes blurry all of a second and it’s getting harder to breathe.

“Lance you’re shaking” Pidge notes somewhere beside him “Are you okay? What’s-“

“If Keith and his group don’t communicate within the next hours, we’ll personally take one of your ships to check up on them”

Something snaps inside of him. This must be some really sick joke. Lance stumbles back onto his feet, knocking away a few cables and tools. Pidge can’t move, still registering the message that was delivered. The throbbing is unbearable now, piercing at his mind over and over again.

First Allura and now Keith?

_No, please don’t._

Lance tries blinking away the dizziness but everything feels sluggish and blurry. He really needs to check those new meds.

“Lance! Come on Lance you have to breathe!” He hears Pidge’s voice somewhere in the room. Before he can even answer, his knees buckle underneath him and he’s falling. A clatter of metal rings through the room, before he’s caught at the last second.

“Why does he always pass out when he’s with me?!” Matt Holt cries, but Lance can barely see him with all of that fog in front of him.

“Just get him to the infirmary!” Pidge shrieks “Lance! Lance can you hear me?!”

Everything goes black.

 

* * *

 

“Do you think he’s overworking himself?”

“I would’ve believed it a year ago. He probably collapsed from worry. Can’t say I blame him, I’ve been worried about Acxa myself since they left”

“I know Keith, he’ll get them out of any trouble”

“Let’s hope Krolia and Kolivan can get their transmission through first”

Lance stirs awake, furrowing himself down into the covers. One moment he was passing out right on Pidge’s lab and now he’s lying down on a bed. Who knows where though. He hears Vero laugh beside him, her hand softly brushing his hair away from his face.

_“Despierta bello durmiente”_

“Don’t wanna” He grumbles, but eventually he blinks his eyes open. He’s sprawled on the bed of his room, Veronica propped up on a chair right beside him and Shiro standing at the entrance. Lance rubs his eyes, feeling his throat sore for some reason “What happened?”

“You passed out” His sister replies “Matt and Pidge brought you to the Infirmary. It looked like your body just shut down from all of the exhaustion and stress you’ve been piling up on yourself. Thankfully you only needed to rest. So here we are”

“That’s a lot” He laughs, coughing mid-way through. Shiro is already right next to him, handing him a bottle of water “Thanks” Lance chugs it down and with no remorse.

“Well it’s normal you’d be thirsty” Shiro chuckles “You’ve been asleep for two days straight”

“Two days?!” Lance coughs immediately, Veronica gently rubbing his back “That long?”

“Yep, we’re quite worried you know” She replies “Mamá almost takes a plane to get here”

“Please tell me she didn’t” He moans. As much as he loves his mother, Mrs. McClain would only end up beliting him for his horrible eating habits and sleep schedule. Not to include the amount of teasing he would get from both Vero and their mom.

“Nah, Dad convinced her to stay” Veronica smiles for a moment before it vanishes, her face growing serious “Though if this happens again I won’t hesitate to send you back to Cuba.” He’s already opening his mouth to protest _“No, no me interrumpas!_ Ever since Keith left for that mission, it’s been like you’re regressing back to one year ago. We have to make sure you’re in top condition. Not only for your students, but for yourself”

“I am, promise” Lance straightens up “I just, blacked out after hearing that” He bites down on his lower lip, mind wandering over to the transmission “Have you found them?”

Shiro and Veronica’s silence is enough of a response for him. He shuffles a bit on the bed, taking a pillow in his hands and basically smashing his face right onto it. The tears are welling up on his eyes, but he can’t cry yet. They don’t know if they’re okay or not. Keith is a reliable leader, he would get them out of every pinch.

But what if he doesn’t?

What if this time they don’t make it?

_Keith_

“Hey” Shiro coaxes him back, hand brushing over his back. Lance peeks from underneath the pillow, his eyes surely red already. The man gives him a sweet smile before sighing “Kolivan and Krolia already took a ship to check out their last coordinates. I’m sure nothing bad happened, trust me on that.”

“But, what if…” Doubt still lingers in his mind. It’s clawing a way through his heart, squeezing with all it’s might. Lance doesn’t want to doubt. He doesn’t want to question whatever it is that happened. But his mind can’t help wander to the worst places “W-What if they don’t come back?”

Shiro blinks, taking in a deep breath. Lance feels Veronica stand from her spot and no one questions her as she exits the room. The two of them are left alone, neither one wanting to answer that morbid question. The pillow underneath his arms is damp with his tears, but Lance doesn’t push it away.

“Lance” He looks up at Shiro, still unsure of the topic at hand. The man look every bit of afraid and worried, and it honestly terrifies Lance seeing such an expression on Shiro’s face.

“Do you really think-” He doesn’t dare to finish that question, mouth closing at the thought. The tears are welling up again, but he doesn’t fight against them this time around.

“Lance they’re going to be fine” _You don’t know that_ is the reply at the tip of his tongue, but he can’t bring himself to say, much less to someone like Shiro of all people.

Allura comes to his mind and pierces him like a bullet. The events of what happened flashing behind his eyelids, engulfing him in a matter of seconds. He can’t breathe, he can’t breathe, _he can-_

“Look at me”

Shiro’s voice is an anchor. One that steadies him just the tiniest bit, but it’s already easing his bruised heart. _Look at me_ , he imagines that same phrase being said by Keith. It comforts him more than he would like to admit.

Lace peels his eyes open, slowly drifting over to Shiro’s own. The expression of the man’s face reminds him of when they were back in space. About to go on some dangerous mission, infiltrating a Galra base or fighting an entire fleet. Determined and unwavering. It leaves him speechless.

“They are fine” Shiro claps one of his hands with his, reassuring him and washing away all of his doubts “Trouble finds Keith all of the time. If something happened our in space he will find a way out of it. You know how he is”

“But-“

“Trust Keith”

It feels like a slap in the face for Lance.

_Trust Keith_ , he chants over and over like a mantra in his mind. If he can’t trust the universe and it’s shitty timing he can trust Keith.

Lance already trusts him with everything he has; ever since they were the respective Red and Blue paladins. He can doubt on anything else, but he can’t doubt Keith. It’s not fair to him.

“Okay” He nods to himself, wiping away his tears.

_Speak it into existence Lancey-Lance_ he reassures himself. He takes a deep breath and steadies himself. He can’t help the second guessing, it comes normal to him just as breathing. With everything that’s happened he couldn’t exactly turn that on and off. But he has to try.

Try for Keith and for himself.

“You’re right. I’ll trust him” He smiles a bit to himself, voice coming out stronger than before. Shiro envelops him in a hug, the two of them unwilling to part from each other.

“I’ll trust Keith”

 

* * *

 

It is that same night when he slips away from his room and goes out to the roof. Pidge and Hunk insisted on keeping an eye on him for tonight, but after a game of Uno and a couple rounds of Monsters and Mana, they ended up soundly sleeping on his bed. Shiro had left somewhere around midnight, with the excuse of needing to finish some papers (Lance knows Shiro went directly towards Curtis’ room).

So it was pretty easy to slip out.

He giggles to himself, hugging his blue sweater closer to his body. The night’s sky is twinkling above him, a sea of stars and constellations appearing on every empty crevice they can find. It feels different from all of those years ago, back when he was merely a student at the Garrison. Just a tiny spectacle in the midst of the whole universe.

It mortified him back in the day. Questions plagued his mind, doubting his own worth and abilities to succeed. That same train of thought plagued him back when they were paladins. Everyone was looking at the Paladins of Voltron, expecting grand things. What if he didn’t live up to the expectation? What if he was a liability to the team?

While those questions were never answered, they don’t push him down like before. After everything that’s happened, the vastness of the universe brings him a sense of comfort. It’s weird, all of these lingering doubts still stored up in his head. But sometimes he quiets them down and just feels. He’s just one person in the midst of it all. Just like everyone else.

Lance walks over to the edge of the roof, the lights of the Garrison and the stars greeting him. He takes a seat by the edge, his feet dangling away. His eyes find the stars and he loses himself in them.

Keith pops into his mind before he even registers it.

The worry is still present, eating him away. Even though he’s trusting Keith with everything he’s got, it doesn’t mean he’s not concerned. Lance bites his lips together, blinking away the tears once more. It might be selfish what he’s about to do, he might even hate himself for it. But he has to try.

“Hey Allura” He greets the vast sky of stars.

It’s not often he talks out-loud with her. He prefers staying more private, voicing out his thoughts into his mind and hoping somehow they reach Allura’s ears. And in all of those times he had talked with her, he’s never mentioned Keith. Or to be specific, his feelings surrounding Keith.

It’s like the words died on his mouth, suddenly closing up on him and he always found something else to talk about. But he knows, deep down he knows that those are only excuses.

“How’s space been?” He laughs, focusing on a twinkling star right in the horizon “I hope the lions found you, we still have no clue where they left. You would probably scold us for losing them though”

There’s a tightness at his throat that forces him to stop. Lance can already feel the tears welling up again. He knows he’s going to cry the minute he asks her but he still holds them off for a moment. His hands are shaking by his side, legs still and dangling from the edge of the roof.

“I-I” With a shaky breath he trudges on “I have a favor to ask of you”

Everything stills for a moment, and then as if on cue, the star he’s been focusing on shines even brighter. Lance laughs, the tears spilling and wonders if he’s being delusional or if somewhere out there Allura is really there, listening to him. His marks glow and he’s never felt more connected to her.

“Wasn’t sure you were even listening” He chuckles to himself, brushing some tears away. The star continues to glow and he can even picture Allura rolling his eyes at him “It’s about…” He hesitates for a moment, still doubting if it was wise for him to confess. Taking in a deep breath he speaks “It’s about Keith”

The star emits a soft hue around it, a few others around it twinkling even harder than before. _Always the queen of gossip_ , he laughs and his fingers start twiddling with each other.

“He’s away on a mission at the moment” He ponders “I mean you- you p-probably know that already, since you well- since you’re space- and yeah you know?” _Ugh stop stuttering_ “The thing is! We lost communications with them two days ago. Krolia and Kolivan already went to check it out, but it’s still worries me”

He looks up towards at the star, hopeful and pleading with every fiber in his being.

“Please let him come back” Lance’s voice breaks just at the last second, failing to keep his voice steady “I can’t do this again Allura, I can’t go through with it again” Big fat tears roll down his cheeks, shame and guilt eating him up from the inside “I know it’s unfair to you, for me to ask you something like this. Believe me, I’m desperate. I-I can’t think straight, wondering if something happened to him and I-we’re unable to do anything to help him!”

Everything comes tumbling down. A tidal wave finally crashing against the shore. Lance is full on sobbing, trying and trying to wipe away his tears but they keep flowing down.

“Please Allura, at least keep him safe! Protect him, anything, I’ll do anything to compensate, just please-” His vision blurs, heart thundering in his chest “Please help him” He continues to cry, tears flowing one after the other without any signs of stopping. 

The distant star radiates even more light, lighting up the rest of them. For a brief moment there’s a pink hue, dusting every single star and constellation. He gasps in surprise as it covers every inch of the sky and then just as that, it explodes over into sparkles. Instantly thousand of stars shoot off away from their position, traveling the horizon’s before disappearing from sight.

The words die on his mouth, his eyes looking back at the same star. It stays still, giving him a radiant shine once more. _Loud and clear_ , it seems to say to him. But something is still bugging him.

“Do you want to know?” He asks, voice raspy and rough around the edges. He must’ve been sobbing a lot. The star stays still, but Lance has a feeling it’s not going anywhere until he explains himself. A dark blush spreads over his cheeks, and he quickly rubs his tears away.

“You sure?” He insists “I-I don’t know. Is it okay to feel like this? I’m not-” He stops midway watching as the star suddenly flickers a bright red at him. _Don’t make Allura mad_ , God he doesn’t want to deal with her like this from the after life “Sorry, sorry! I god I don’t know!”

It instantly stops glowing red and then a soft blue hue emits from it. Lance gulps, instantly relieved at the calm atmosphere now. His hands are shaking by his side and honestly it’s like he’s just run a marathon. His heart pounds in his chest.

The thought, the reminder of Allura has been eating him away since the beginning. It’s always there, a reminder of what they didn’t have, a reminder of what they could’ve been.

But Keith is so much different from her.

Lance already accepted it. If something ever did happen with Keith, it would be a thousand times greater than what he had with Allura in the past. He knows it, deep down. And he can’t help but to feel like he’s betraying Allura’s trust in him. The guilt manages to eat him away every time.

The star continues to shine in the horizon, waiting patiently for him to talk. Lance dryly chuckles, steeling himself for what’s about to come.

“I-I’m not sure how it even happened” He nervously laughs, trying to brush his hair away with trembling hands. He shudders in a breath and continues “It was sudden. One moment we were goofing around and the next I was just, gone.” Speaking about his feelings for Keith out loud feels…oddly intimate.

He’s stopped trying to rationalize the intensity of his feelings for his friend, it’s no use. It’s tangled mess, twisting one way and the other. The end and the beginning completely pointless. Lance might say he fell for Keith that fateful day when they were baking, but he knows that could be a big lie. Considering all of the lists he made for Keith back when they were at the Garrison. Infatuation with the boy might be a short word for it.

It’s true that while he was with the princess, he never thought about anyone else in a romantic way. His eyes were only for her. Now after everything that happened, he wonders.

If Allura were still with them, would he have noticed Keith?

“He makes me feel everything. It’s such a tornado of things Allura” Lance sighs, a shaky smile taking over his lips “Keith is just- I can’t even put it into words. He makes me feel so much all the time. He doesn’t even have to do anything! Just by thinking about him I’m already blushing” The distant star shines a bit brighter and he can hear Allura’s laughter tinkling by his ears.

“It’s so much. So much! It’s overwhelming” Every time he thinks about Keith, butterflies swarm him up, the heat filling up and up, he’s surprised he hasn’t exploded yet “I can’t describe it, it’s everything. I-“ He sighs, voice heavy and distant “I’m in love with him Allura”

There’s a beat when nothing happens and then a sea of pink dusts over the whole sky. But as quickly as it appeared it vanishes in an instant. Lance gapes, looking over at the twinkling star only to find that’s it’s still there.

“Is it truly okay princess?” He presses the issue further “Is it all right for me to love Keith the way I loved you?” _Maybe even more?_

_It’s more than okay my love_ , Allura whispers right back to him.

Lance turns around but there’s no one standing behind him and just as he turns back to the night’s sky, the twinkling star is long gone.

Slowly the stars glinting in the sky start to die out, the sun slowly rising in the horizon.

He continues to look at the spot where the star was, eyes stuck on the same place. There’s a heaviness settling into him, but at the same time liberating. With one last glance he leaves the rooftop and goes down to his own bedroom.

 

* * *

 

Two weeks pass by and there’s still no sign from Keith and his group. Krolia and Kolivan were still in space looking at their last known locations and sending the Garrison inputs whenever they could. It’s maddening and Lance’s surprised he hasn’t passed out again 

After his night at the infirmary, Shiro took charge of some of his classes. To help him unwind or something he said. But Lance needed to do something, distract himself with his students, attend even more meetings, schedule the flight simulations, anything. His mind would wander off to Keith every single time if he was resting. A thousand scenarios and questions would flood his mind in a single moment and he needed to be distracted from it. Trust Keith, he reminded himself.

Hunk and Pidge did their best in trying to get his mind off of things, always hanging out during dinner, gaming nights, everything. But in the end, they did have their own worries regarding Keith as well. Shiro was no better. He tried to keep his best attitude, putting up a front for everyone at the Atlas. But the exhaustion was clear in his face.

In short words, it was a mess.

“Did you hear the rumors about the Black Paladin?”

“Maybe another invasion’s coming! At least that’s what my parents say”

“More aliens?”

“Hope he makes it”

“Kids!” Lance yells, all of his students turning towards him, eyes full of guilt. Seriously it’s like they fill themselves with gossip or something “Quiet down with the chatter, we still have to finish the lessons regarding the Balmerans and we have to discuss your projects”

Everyone groans in defeat and he has to stifle down a chuckle “No objections!”

“But Professor McClain!”

“Nope, you don’t get to whine, we have a full two weeks before summer vacation starts” He reaches his desk, rearranging his stack of folders and notebooks.

“But what about the aliens?!” One of the kids screams and that’s all it take for his classroom to become a chaos again. Everyone starts talking over each other, hands shooting up in the air as they try to speak up about their own theories. Some are even shouting them from one side of the room to the other.

“If the aliens do come, then we can’t do the project!”

“We’ll be dead!”

“But there’s no projects!”

“Kids!” Lance yells among the crowd of desks. The children quickly settle down, many of them returning to their respective seats. Some of them still have their hand raised, waiting to voice out their own comment or question. Sighing he turns to them until there’s a small gasp from the back of the room. He turns and before he can even ask a couple of other students are shooting up in their seats, hands pointing out from the window.

“Look! Look”

“What is that? Is that a spaceship?!”

“It’s the aliens!”

Lance whips around and truly there was a spaceship heading directly towards the Garrison. He holds his breath, hand going straight for his Bayard- right they don’t have those anymore. He walks ahead, analyzing the incoming ship. It was small sized, capacity of around 10 humans or so, and it was slowly descending. Well if it was an attack they would’ve been shooting by now.

A noise of static fills the room and everyone quickly covers their ears at the intrusion. Lance frowns, already moving back to his desk and taking out one of his small blasters. There’s a silence before a voice rings out through the room.

“Command this is Acxa requesting to land, over”

His heart stops, eyes wide and mouth agape. He looks out the window and surely the doors of the hangar are slowly opening, granting entrance to the spaceship. Acxa is here? They made it, are they okay? If she was here, then maybe Keith-

“Command this is Keith former pilot of the Black Lion reporting in, over”

“Lance!”

The door of the classroom burst open and there stood Pidge in all of her glory, radiant smile over her lips. He felts tears welling up by his eyes, his marks already bursting with blue light.

Keith was alive, he was alive.

_Gracias a Dios._

He looks out the window once more, and in brief moment he sees the same distant star from all those nights before. His heart swells up, so full with gratitude that it overflows. _Thank you Allura, thank you so much_ , he tells her and tries to wipe away some of his tears.

“Let’s go!” Pidge is suddenly right in front of his face, hand clasping with his and practically drags him out of the classroom “Kids don’t leave the room, a substitute will come later to finish the lesson!”

“What?!” A couple of kids yell, their cries seizing as the door locks after the two of them.

“Wait Pidge I need- I need to-“ His legs are already shaking and Lance braces himself on the wall next to him. The girl immediately stops and turns to him, eyes clear with worry. He takes in a deep breath and then exhales. Keith is back, his minds reminds him once more and that thought alone is enough to make his knees buckle again. Lance takes another deep breath and nods to himself.

Keith is alive.

“Do you want to go to the-?”

“No, no, no, I’m fine” He stands up straighter, hands still shaking but he ignores it “I need to see him”

Pidge smiles at him, cheeky grin and everything. He doesn’t bother in hiding his obvious blush, the marks are already a dead giveaway after all. They look at each other and before anyone speaks they break off in a run. He yells excitedly as the pass hallways and hallways, people giving the two of them odd looks as they go.

Though as they approach the hangars more and more people crowd around the area, surely they weren’t the only ones who heard the message being received. Pidge takes his hand without question and navigates the two of them through the crowd of people.

“Voltron paladins coming through people!” She yells through the clamoring “Move, move, move! We have business with the Black Paladin!” Surprisingly people do move from their place to let them pass and the two of them don’t waste their time dwelling on it.

They soon reach the lower floor, the two of them immediately bolting towards the alien spaceship. Lance frowns, already noticing that it wasn’t the same ship Keith had left in all those weeks ago. Surely they had encountered some trouble in their journey. As they approach the scene, there’s a small crowd gathered right in front of the spaceship, one full with Garrison officials and high-ranking cadets.

He vaguely hears his sister yelling Acxa’s name somewhere inside the hangar and he speeds up a bit. He can see Ezor’s tail somewhere in the crowd, Zethrid standing right next to her. At least they both looked unharmed so he counts that as a good thing.

Lance pushes through the crowd, desperation clawing its way up.

He needs to see Keith, reassure himself that he’s all right. That he’s breathing. _That’s he’s still here with me._ He sends another prayer to whoever’s listening as he pushes forward. Krolia is standing off to the side with Kosmo, Kolivan talking with Iverson somewhere in the crowd. As soon as Krolia sees him, she-

“You fucking asshole!”

Pidge screams, tearing herself away from the crowd and launching herself at Keith. The man in turn lets out a surprised laugh and then returns the fierce hug. Hunk and Shiro are standing by his side, the two of them shedding their own set of tears.

Lance breaks away from the crowd, the throbbing coming from his legs unbearable, but he stays upright. His heart is thundering and he doesn’t know if it’s from the running or Keith. He honestly thinks it’s the latter one.

He feels his own tears well up just as the sight of him.

Keith has a huge smile on his face as he continues to cradle Pidge in his arms. There’s a thin layer of soot over his face and Lance can even see a bit of dried blood smeared over his cheeks. Even then, he manages to smile and brighten up the whole room. Butterflies erupt in his chest, taking everything by storm and Lance lets them.

Keith breaks off from Pidge’s hug and just then, his eyes snap right to him.

It’s electrifying the effect Keith has over him. With just one look, he’s breathing again, worries mindlessly disappearing into thin air. Lance can’t seem to look away from him, marks glowing brightly. This is so different, in so many good ways. The tears are spilling from his face and he doesn’t even bother in brushing them away.

“Lance”

Keith utters his name and that’s all it takes for him to break down.

_“Hijo de la chingada”_ He whispers before running to him. And as if on cue, Keith is meeting him halfway. Lance throws his arms around the boy’s neck, burying his face into his shoulder and begins to cry. Sobs come out one after the other and he doesn’t stop. Keith’s arms make their way across his back, his hold grounding him to this very moment.

He forgets about their audience, about their friends, everything blacks out. Lance can only concentrate on Keith’s hands steadying him and his body pressed against him. He holds on even tighter than before, wishing to be even closer against each other.

“I thought I lost you” He whispers against Keith’s neck, his voice breaking at the thought “I thought I wouldn’t see you again. That you wouldn’t come back- That-t you wouldn’t come back to us- To me“ His sentences slur and he can’t help another sob rippling through.

“It’s okay, it’s okay love” Keith’s voice grounds him to this moment alone. The two of them only exist “I’m here Lance. I’m here”

Lance holds on to him and cries.

 

* * *

 

The cold morning breeze chills him up to the bones, making Lance burrow further into his green jacket. He coughs out into the wind, the air prickling at his bare skin. Maybe going to the roof at late hours into the night wasn’t his best choice. Blinking, he turns back around gazing up at the sky and surely finds the same star from before, glistening above him. He smiles and moves closer to the edge of the roof, just like he did all those nights before.

“Hey Allura” He greets, taking the same spot on the floor. Lance rubs his hands together and breathes out before continuing “Keith returned yesterday. A bit bruised and bloody but nonetheless he came back.”

After the reunion with Keith everything went by in a blur. First from rushing Keith and his team to the infirmary, then to a meeting with the Garrison officials. Apparently Keith and his group had been intercepted by a group of Honerva’s supporters and after the fight they lost their communicator. They were unable to communicate with anyone after that.

Soon after the meeting everyone relaxed and proceeded to held in a feast by the cafeteria. Everyone was in a state of frenzy, from thinking about the threat of another alien invasion to then celebrating the return of one of their own. Lance couldn’t blame them, his emotions were a whirlwind as well.

He could still feel the soreness in his throat from all of that crying, eyes red and puffy as well. Not even his beauty products could hide the fact that he cried his lungs out when he reunited with Keith. Lance groans in embarrassment at the memory, rubbing at his eyes again.

“I cried like a baby when I saw him” He admits to her and it almost as if he could hear her laughter ringing across the sky “Yeah yeah laugh all you want, I couldn’t help it. Pidge made fun of me for it as well” He pouts at the memory of the former Green Paladin pressing at his sides, annoying him to no end about his pink cheeks. Hunk and Shiro were no better, exchanging amused looks between the two. Keith on the other hand…

After that crying session, Lance couldn’t strip himself away from Keith. It was impossible for him to do it, the thought of it physically hurt him. Thankfully Keith thought along the same lines and couldn’t-wouldn’t stand being apart from him. They glued to each other,  hands clasping together without question.

Soon after that, everyone joined in on the banquet held at the cafeteria. Even Keith and his group who looked like they were dead on their feet. Cadets and officials all received them like heroes, hugging and clasping their hands together, it honestly terrified him a little bit. Nonetheless after that everything went so fast and Lance felt overwhelmed with everything.

He didn’t want to let go of Keith but seeing him at ease with the team, Lance took the opportunity and slipped out of the cafeteria. The urge to get some fresh air crashing over him. And thus how he found himself out at the roof at four in the morning.

Keith’s face appears in his mind and Lance hopes he isn’t looking for him. Hopes he’s enjoying the festivities with the rest of the team. At the mere thought of their hands intertwined with each other, Lance flushes, marks lighting up in an instant. He hears Allura’s amused giggles again.

“Anyways…” He sobers up instantly, gaze focusing solely on the star above “…I just wanted to thank you”

He can feel the mood shift after that but he continues.

“If it weren’t for you I don’t know if they could’ve make it. If they could’ve returned back to us” Lance feels the incoming tears and god he’s so tired from crying, but he doesn’t think he can stop them again “If he hadn’t come back I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. I really don’t. I still can’t believe he came back, it feels like a dream that he did at all. I had thought…” He heaves a sigh, knuckles white as he grips the jacket over him.

“I thought the worse” Lance admits, closing in on himself, dragging his legs towards his chest and burying his face in them. His mind can’t still wrap around the idea of Keith coming back. Of Keith being on Earth, with the team, with him. It still feels surreal in his mind, not wanting to believe in what happened. But the other part (the 99.9% of him) is filled to the brim with relief.

“Thank you Allura” He smiles, looking up at the distant star “ _Gracias, muchas gracias. Con todo mi corazón, gracias”_

Lance breathes out, as the star continues to glisten high and above. There’s a beat of silence before the door is slammed open. He shrieks, jumping on his seat by the floor, heart slamming against his chest.

“What the-“ He turns and is met by the sight of Keith at the door “Keith?”

The man in question looks even worse than before. Hair sticking up like a lion’s mane, eyes wide and frantic, clothes rumpled all around. It seems like he’s been running all around for some time. Even then, Lance thinks he’s never looked better.

Rolled up sleeves and black undershirt visible, _dios-_

“Lance” Keith breathes his name as if he was a drowning man. It sends a jolt of electricity down his spine and honestly he thinks he might pass out. Lance wants to ask if something’s wrong but before he can do it, Keith is already sitting right next to him.

“H-Hey” Lance gives him a bashful smile, hands trembling by his side and suddenly he feels a thousand times hotter “What brings you here mullet?”

“You” Keith replies, his gaze stuck on him. As if he’s memorizing every detail on his face “You left the cafeteria and you weren’t in your room”

“Oh right” Chuckling, he hugs the jacket closer to him “I felt a bit…overwhelmed with everything”

Keith gives him a small nod and scoots even closer next to him. His face heats up instantly but stays in place, not wanting to interrupt whatever this was between the two of them. There’s a beat of silence, neither one of them speaking and just enjoying their proximity. Lance sneaks a peek at Keith, who in turn is looking directly at the glistening star far above the sky.

I love him.

_I really love him._

“When we were stuck in space” Keith speaks, leaning a bit more into Lance’s space “We didn’t have enough signal to get the coordinates back to Earth. We were just floating around, waiting for the transmission to get through” Lance gulps, and moves even closer to him, tempted to lace their hands together once again.

“How did you get back?” He could picture it, Keith and his team stranded in the middle of nowhere and a vast sea of nothingness around them. A shiver runs down his back and he’s not sure if it was from the thought or from the cold. The former Black Paladin senses it immediately and doesn’t hesitate in pressing himself further against Lance, shoulder against shoulder.

The heat spreads like wildfire inside his veins, marks lighting up instantly. Lance blushes, trying to cover away the glow only to be stopped by Keith’s hands. He gasps, the contrast between the two erupts butterflies all around his chest.

“Don’t” Keith whispers against him “I like them” And just like that he intertwines their hands once again.

Lance never thought he would feel this much, an overwhelming sense of love for someone. He might drown in it, trying to keep his feelings at bay, but Keith is making it near damn impossible. It should be illegal, being this smooth, hot and cute all at the same time.

“I saw that star up in the sky” Keith explains, his eyes locked onto his “When we were drifting away, I saw it and it lead us back. It lead me back here-back to you”

A giggle escapes out of Lance’s lips and he can’t seem to stop. It’s just seconds before the tears spill over again and god he’s so tired but it’s an overwhelming sense of relief. _Thank you Allura, god thank you so much_ , he thanks her over and over again as the tears spill over his cheeks.

“I-I’m so glad” He sobs, gripping Keith’s hands in his own “When your transmission was cut off, I didn’t know what-t to do. My mind was a mess and I prayed-I prayed so much that you were all right, that you would come back”

“I’m here” Keith pulls closer, dropping a sweet tender kiss into each of his palms. Lance sniffs, blinking away his tears. The former Black Paladin watches him with a troubled expression and squeezes their joined hands before letting go. Lance has the urge to hold onto them again but in a swift moment, Keith is cradling his head in his hands, wiping away the stray tears.

“I can’t believe I made you cry again” Keith frowns, conflicted with himself. Lance feels something unravel inside him, all of his nerves and worries easing away. He carefully places his own hands over his, wanting- _needing_ to be closer against him. They move and their noses almost brush against each other.

Lance can’t pull away.

Doesn’t want to pull away in the least.

“Keith”

That’s all it takes for him.

Lance notices a shift in Keith’s gaze. One moment they’re looking at each other and the next Keith is kissing him senseless.

It’s everything he imagined and more, being this close to Keith, tasting his lips against his. It’s intoxicating and he wants more and more.

Before he can even respond, Keith is already pulling away. Lance can’t help but to trail after him, his eyes softly opening to look at the boy.

“Why’d you stop?” His voice slurs, the heat trailing all the way from his lips to his toes. His marks are throbbing, glowing his emotions for Keith to see. Said boy is panting, lips gasping for breath and Lance can’t help his eyes drawing down to them.

“This wasn’t-I wasn’t” Keith stutters, his voice hoarse and Lance just want to kiss him again and again “I can’t believe I did that, I’m sorry I-“

“No” Lance pushes in closer, foreheads touching one another “Don’t apologize. For anything Keith” He slowly drapes his arms around Keith’s neck, savoring the shiver it sends down his spine. He’s high on this feeling, the swarm of butterflies erupting like fireworks inside his body. Carefully he entangles his hands into those raven locks and relishes in the softness of them.

Keith groans something he can’t decipher and Lance just goes for it. He dives back in, lips crashing against Keith’s and moans into the kiss.

Instantly Keith wraps his arms around his waist, hoisting him over his lap and Lance can’t get enough. The push and pull of lips is leaving him dizzy, high on the feeling. He doesn’t know where he ends and where Keith starts, and god it’s too much.

He caresses Keith’s locks between his fingers, accidentally pulling them. Keith growls into the kiss and hungrily bites down on his bottom lip. Lance whimpers, trembling all the way, pressing himself closer against the boy. With shaking fingers he tries unbuttoning Keith’s jacket, wanting-needing to touch him skin against skin.

Keith pushes himself away from the kiss, and Lance whines in frustration. Before he can react, Keith is already tossing his jacket aside, and lowering down the zipper from his own green jacket. His heart is like a hummingbird, throbbing against his ribcage from one side to the other. He feels like he’s about to burst and it’s so good.

Not a second passes and they’re already back on each other. Lance touches every piece of skin he can, massaging Keith’s shoulders with his hands, before wrapping them around his neck once again. Keith is lifting up his undershirt, pressing his hands against his back. It sends shivers down his spine and he can feel Keith’s smile against their hungry kiss.

A cold rush of wind passes through them and honestly Lance can’t even feel it. He presses even closer to Keith who in turn breaks the kiss all too soon. Before Lance can even complain, Keith is kissing down his jaw, latching onto his neck. His lips press soft kisses all over it, before biting down and marking him completely. Lance can’t hold down his moan, arms tightening around the other boy’s frame.

“Keith, Keith, _Keith”_ Like a broken record, the name falls off his lips and it’s like the only word he knows. Right now in this moment only him and Keith exist.

“I wanted to do this for so long” Keith pants in between kisses, caressing his neck over and over again “You have no idea” He really has no idea. He’s still high on the moon at the boy being here, right next to him, kissing the living daylights out of him. Lance moans again, hoping no one is near enough to hear them.

“Do it, do it” He breaths between whimpers “Please-just please” Keith’s hands still over his back, hands itching towards his chest. Lance gasps, holding the boy closer against him. He sighs, a smile breaking over his lips at the moment between the two of them “Don’t hold back on me”

Keith is looking back at him, eyes so lovestruck that it makes him blush all over again. Lance can’t help the pleased sigh that escapes out of him and he’s leaning down again, dropping another kiss to the boy’s lips.

This kiss is different.

There’s no sense of urgency shifting between them; there’s no need to rush. Keith presses in softly against him, his hands slowly caressing his sides. It feels so intimate, sharing quiet breaths and soft touches between the two. Lance savors the lips against his, a sweet taste of vanilla tasting his mouth. They slow down, parting against each other, foreheads connected.

Lance slowly blinks his eyes open, admiring Keith’s lips once again. They’re rosy surely from all of their previous activity. Small pants escape out of them and the urge to kiss him all over again fills him up. Keith slowly opens his eyes and it’s like he’s seeing him- _meeting him_ for the first time.

“Hey” His voice comes out hoarse and raspy, his blush darkening over his face.

Lance peers away and stills. He’s sitting in Keith’s lap. Full on, sitting over his thighs (his gold-like thighs). He yelps, detaching his hands from Keith’s shoulders. Lance has to move, god how embarrassing, _how did he get here in the first place?!_ Quickly he’s rising from his position, but just then Keith latches his arms around his waist, forcing him to sit back down.

“W-Wait Keith-we shouldn’t-” He stammers only to be interrupted.

“Don’t go” Keith holds on, his voice a soft whisper between the two _“Please”_

Lance really can’t say no to Keith. Carefully he slides back down, blushing at their position and hooking his arms around Keith’s neck like before. The hold on his waist tightens, bringing the two of them a lot closer. Keith’s face is a breath away, just enough distance for Lance to drop a lingering kiss to his lips.

They both keep quiet, eyes locked onto each other, unable to utter a single word. Lance doesn’t know what he should say now. _What do I do? Do I confess? Tell him I love him? We just make out like horny teenagers, I’m not even sure he likes me!_ He sucks in a breath, his mind obviously not helping him in this existential turmoil. He licks his lips and Keith seems to be following his every movement.

“So-” Lance chuckles, voice breaking by the end of it. _God stop being so nervous!_ He screams at himself “Um…that just happened” That was so awkward, maybe he shouldn’t even open his mouth at all. A rush of cold air hits his backside and he’s immediately shivering away from it. Keith doesn’t hesitate in pulling him even closer, chest to chest, arms still snuggled around his waist.

“Do you regret it?”

The question is a soft whisper against his ear. Lance turns, eyes focusing on Keith and nothing else. He can feel his erratic heart beat, breaking the calm demeanor on his face.

“Regret the kiss?” Keith insists, brows pinched together as if the question physically hurts him.

“No-I-Never Keith” Lance gulps for air, shaking his head quickly “I don’t regret it. At all” _I would never regret it, not today and certainly not in the future._

“You sure?” He smiles at Keith’s question and presses down a kiss to his cheek. That seems to shut him up, eyes wide and mouth agape. A soft pink flushes the boy’s face, endearing Lance even more. Giggling he slides his hands up to that raven mullet head, pushing away the bangs from his face. Keith is looking at him as if he parted the sea and created the stars.

Lance flushes, but continues with his ministrations. Softly he lowers down and presses a kiss to the boy’s forehead. Keith releases a breath, eyes closing at the contact. It’s so much more than what he expected-what he dreamed of. Lance smiles, dropping another set of kisses all over Keith’s face, a few chuckles escaping from said boy.

Forehead, eyebrows, cheeks, jaw- Lance kisses every single part except for his lips.

“Keith” He calls out to him and his eyes open instantly. Maybe he’s being reckless, rushing into this without a plan. But he trusts Keith. Trusts him with everything he has. If he falls, Keith surely is down there waiting for him.

It’s always been him.

“I love you”

A thousand pounds are released inside of him, and Lance can finally feel he can breathe. His heart is in override, marks still glowing at their full potential but he can’t help the relieved smile framing his lips. He never expected this, this sense of relief crashing over him without mercy.

“I love you _con todo mi corazón_ _Keith_ ” He confesses, voice too high with love and devotion.

The hold against his waist tightens and he can’t do anything but hug back. He can’t even feel the cold breeze with Keith pressed up against him. Unable to hold back, he drops another kiss at the top of the boy’s raven locks. Lance chuckles as Keith buries his face into his chest even further.  

“God” Keith says between breaths, a happy sigh released out from him “I wanted to be the first one to say it”

Lance laughs, heart somersaulting inside him “You can still answer my confession you know?”

Keith peeks up to look at him and Lance has to bite down his tongue, trying not to coo at the adorable face right in front of him. _Me esta matando, es tan lindo_ his mind screams at him. Giggling he pushes Keith’s bangs away from his face and honestly Keith just melts into him. Being this close to someone you love is the best kind of feeling, he realizes, his heart full in every possible way.

Before he can continue his ministrations with the raven’s hair, Keith rises up and softly cups Lance’s cheeks with his own hands. They are nose to nose, eye to eye, and Lance is filled with the need to close that gap between them. He stops in an instant, seeing Keith’s determined eyes gazing right through him.

“I love you”

It steals his breath away.

“I love you” Keith smiles so tenderly at him.

He’s on cloud nine just looking at that sweet smile. Lance can’t help the choked sob spilling past his lips and the tears rolling down his eyes. Keith doesn’t hesitate, gently brushing them away with the pad of his fingers “With everything I have and more Lance.”

Laughing he can’t stop himself from planting a kiss on Keith’s lips. They are both smiling through it, hugging each other closer and closer. Lance can’t stop the giggles escaping from his mouth and has to break away from the kiss. Keith grumbles in annoyance, following his lips right after.

“Sorry, sorry” He keeps laughing and leans into Keith’s touch. That seems to calm him as they both continue to embrace each other and watch the stars. Lance smiles, pressing his lips over the crown of Keith’s head as the boy continues to rub soothing circles on his back. The distant glowing star is still present, and just as Lance turns to look at it, it slowly starts to disappear.

His eyes water for a moment as the star slowly fades out of existence, but it also fills him with an enormous wave of gratitude. He leans back and stares right at Keith, who in turn is already leaning back to look at him. Lance gives the starry sky another lingering look before turning back to the boy in his arms.

“Are we boyfriends now Keith?” He giggles at the blush that darkens over the boy’s cheeks “Do I get to call you _mi novio_?”

“You’re damn right we are” Keith grumbles, his face the same color of his former Lion. Lance feels the heat coming off from his own cheeks, the marks still glowing at full force “I want to make you the happiest person alive”

“Who knew you were this romantic mullet”

“Anything for you love” The pet name sends a shiver down his spine and Keith notices. His boyfriend smirks and presses a long, deep kiss on his neck. Lance has to muffle down his whimpers, huffing at Keith’s smirking face.

“ _Menso_ ” Lance pants, regaining his breath. Keith looks up at him, lips breaking out into a soft smile. His heart stumbles, making him felt all over again for this boy with a mullet “You already make me happy. The happiest there is by just being here”

Keith doesn’t wait and kisses him with such fervor that leaves him dizzy.

They leave the rooftop somewhere around four in the morning, the Garrison halls completely empty from any onlookers that could’ve find them. Lance is surprised they even managed to make it back into his apartment, the two of them stopping every five seconds to kiss throughout their walk. Without question they both stumbled into his apartment and crashed right into his bed.

Lance didn’t even bother doing his skin care routine and just snuggled right into Keith’s inviting arms. His boyfriend was out like a light the moment they both settled into their pillows, nuzzling his face on top of Lance’s. He really couldn’t blame him, Keith had barely gotten an ounce of sleep since he arrived.

Dropping down a kiss over his chest, Lance presses himself closer to Keith and slowly closes his eyes.

It feels like a dream, every moment, every memory he spent with Keith. Like everything had lead up to this moment in time. He thinks of the first moment he saw Keith right until the present. Same boy, pressed right next to him. Maybe if he wasn’t such a stubborn idiot in the past they would’ve ended up together long ago. Or maybe if other circumstances surrounded them, they wouldn’t end up together at all.

Regardless, Lance believes that eventually they would’ve find each other and fall in love like they did. Keith and Lance. Lance and Keith. Together.

“Love” Keith mumbles in his sleep “I’m here”

And he believes it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's the final chapter! i actually want to do a sort of epilogue but i'm still not sure if i should do it or not haha i have a lot of things to do right now and a lot of other ideas i'm working on but for the moment here's this! if i do the epilogue it'll probably take place in Shiro's wedding or something. but fear not i'll continue to write about klance until the end of my days (most probably) haha
> 
> anyways! i hope you liked this! here's my [tumblr](https://castlebrenda.tumblr.com) if you want to hear me ramble more about voltron and other stuff. hope you have a great day!


	3. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _He takes a deep breath._
> 
> _“I just want to be with you”_
> 
> _Lance looks up at Keith, a smile already breaking through._
> 
> _“Will you stay with me?”_
> 
> _Keith doesn’t waste a second to connect their lips together once more._
> 
>    
>  __
> 
> _[we may fall and sometimes get hurt, but will you stay with me? ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCRqz-NGB2Y) _

He’s used to the Altean marks etched on his face by now. How they move along with his cheeks and adorn his eyes with their light. How they shine brightly in the dark whenever he’s happy, embarrassed or anything in between. 

It reminds him of Allura. 

It reminds him of Keith as well. 

The gentle summer breeze caress his skin, the sun slowly settling over by the horizon. He can still hear the cheers and applause coming over from the beautiful venue at the hotel, the ocean waves crashing right by his feet. 

Lance turns, noticing the soft dim yellow lights coming from the party. Everyone was buzzing with excitement, barely able to contain their happiness for the newly weds. He had to count himself too in that equation. 

He had cried like a baby when Shiro and Curtis exchanged their vows at the altar. And there was no doubt in his mind that he would continue crying during the ceremony. 

He turns back around towards the sea, looking up at the twinkling stars hanging above. 

Weddings at Varadero were something to marvel at. Beautiful beaches and sights and lively music to go with it. So once Shiro asked him for tips, Lance launched himself right away at the opportunity to help his friend plan the perfect wedding. Not only him, but the rest of the Atlas crew pitched in to help. 

Aliens from all over the globe started to ship in their weddings gifts as soon as they got notice of the date. It was a mess all around but Lance couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen everyone so happy.

Coran and Romelle had shipped in massive bouquets of flowers for the reception, the ceremony flowing with different alien flowers all around; Hunk had come in early from his vacation with Shay to direct the whole kitchen and basically host the entire thing; Pidge and Matt along with their parents set up the whole music and sound system, along with the catering and organization of the tables; And Keith had flown back from his mission with the Blades two weeks early to help him and his brother with the whole ceremony. 

The memory of the two of them reuniting again, pulls a soft smile from his lips. 

He remembers Keith’s arms circling around his waist and kissing him silly back at the farm, the two of them wrapped up in each other without a care in the world. A blush quickly spreads over his cheeks at the joyful moment and he can’t help his marks glowing at the thought. 

Lance breathes in the salty smell around him, the ocean crashing against his bare feet in the sand. The reception was about to start in mere minutes as the sky darkens and the first few stars light up the sky. He grins and salutes to an all familiar star by the north, heart easing the moment he sees it.

The thought of Allura doesn’t bring him pain anymore. It feels entirely different now.

It’s so much more a sense of nostalgia, tinged with a bittersweet feeling of their time spent together. And as time passed he learned to remember her as his friend rather than his previous lover.   

“There you are”

Keith’s voice snaps him out of his thoughts, as he turns back to the shore. 

His boyfriend (wow he still can’t get used to that word) is standing a few meters away from the sea, indigo eyes right back on him and a fond smile adorning his face. 

“Here I am” Lance giggles at the exasperated look the other man gives him in return. He walks back to the shore, dusting off his white cream pants as his feet touch the sand beneath them. Keith is next to him in an instant, already offering his hand for him to take “Were you looking for me?” 

“One second you were chatting with Acxa and the next you had disappeared” The Blade member chuckles, handing him a towel for his feet. Lance takes it with a grateful smile as he quickly dries off and slips his discarded shoes back on “Hunk said you were at the beach and Pidge was sure you’d been abducted by aliens” 

“And you got worried?” He dusts off his blue vest and turns to look at his boyfriend, already cooing at the pout on his face. _So fucking cute, I’m going to die!_ his mind screams and seriously even after almost two years of dating, Keith still shook him to the core. Lance smiles and stands on his toes to plop a sweet kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek “You’re so sweet, _amor_. But there was nothing to be worried about” 

“Can’t help it” Keith grunts, already circling his waist. He swiftly takes Lance in his arms and kisses the crown of his head. He giggles at the action and without a word furrows deep into the embrace, his arms nesting over the man’s neck. 

“You’re going to kill me, you know that?” Lance giggles, marks already glowing blue between them. Keith perks up at the sight, a sweet and soft smile gracing his lips as he quickly snuggles closer. 

The sound of the sea lulls them and softly they start swaying from one side to the other, their bodies moving along with the waves. Lance continues to look at his boyfriend, eyes never straying away from him, marks going off as they pleased. Keith’s smile turns fonder, the hold over his waist tightening. 

Soon enough, Keith is leaning in and Lance doesn’t wait to close his eyes and meet him in a kiss. 

Even after all this time, every time the two of them share a kiss, it shakes Lance to the core like nothing else. 

Keith’s lips pressed against him, leaves him dizzy and breathless all together, emotions running high inside of him. His heart is beating like crazy against his chest, hands slightly shaking as he softly reaches and tangles them into his boyfriend’s ponytail. The urge to just jank that band and free Keith’s soft raven locks is unbearable, his hands itching to do it. 

“You’re gonna ruin my hair” Keith says between breaths, their lips finding each other over and over again without miss. Lance smiles into the kiss, the pleasure inside him building up and up. 

Just one kiss from Keith and he’s already a hot mess.

“What can I do, I just love your mullet so much _amor_ ” He purrs, and the gleam in his boyfriend’s eyes, stirs something hot and heavy inside of him. 

“Don’t I know it” Keith teases, their lips parting as the man slowly peppers kisses down his jaw and over his neck. Lance arches into his hold, already panting at the contact as he feels his boyfriend’s breath tingle his skin. Goosebumps rise over his arms the moment Keith places a soft kiss just below his earlobe, a small whimper escaping his lips. 

“We should get back” Lance breathes, legs a bit wobbly as he fully supports himself against the other man “The others are surely looking for us”

“I don’t care” Keith drops another kiss over his neck and then he softly bites. Lance keens, one of his hands coming down to muffle the sound. At this rate, they won’t be able to go back to the party any time soon. His boyfriend smirks against him and proceeds to leave another hickey just above his collar. 

“That’s way too high” He complains, his voice coming out in breathless moans “People are going to notice” 

“Let them” And _oh wow_ those two words turn his world upside down. 

Keith’s hands suddenly starts unbuttoning Lance’s shirt and _oh god are they really going to do it here in a public space?!_

“Keith! W-Wait a second!” He clasps his hands over his boyfriend’s, trying to slow him down as the man continues to pepper his neck with kisses “We can’t do it out in the open! Someone might see us!” 

“Who cares?” Keith growls and he really doesn’t want to care, let his boyfriend have his way with him wherever he wants, but not with the chance of any of their friends seeing them like this! 

“We can continue later!” He hisses next to a moan ripped out from him at another bite “It’s your brother’s wedding! We have all night afterwards!” 

His boyfriend stops then, leaning back and leveling him with a look. At least, he’s not the only one winded by their recent activity. 

Keith’s ponytail is a (hot) mess, strands sticking up everywhere and lips shiny and red from their use. His collar and tie are rumpled at the sides and the blush on Lance’s face intensifies. 

“All night then?” Keith smirks, crowding even closer, nose to nose. 

_Cabrón._

His face heats up once again, marks surely sparkling white against his skin and that only serves to rouse Keith even more. There’s something brewing behind his indigo eyes and Lance only gulps, a slight tremble passing through his body at the thought of what might happen after the party. 

Lance only manages to nod in response, averting his eyes from his boyfriend’s, emotions running high inside of him. Keith chuckles against him and gives his cheek a brief cheek before taking a step back. 

“It’s a promise then” And the man fucking _winks_ at him. 

“If I explode it’s your problem _amor_ ” He threatens, voice breaking at the last syllable. With shaking fingers, he buttons up his shirt once again, praying all of those bites and hickeys would not be visible to the crowd’s eye. 

He turns to Keith, who looks at him with a content smile and then Lance reaches to comb his raven hair with his fingers, trying to salvage the damaged ponytail the best he could. His boyfriend hums and closes his eyes, relaxing at the touch. He can’t help the laugh that erupts out of him. 

“I’m not sure if I’m making it better or worse” An idea pops up in his mind and carefully frees his boyfriend’s raven hair out of his hold. Keith’s eyes snap open but doesn’t open his mouth, curiously looking at him. Lance rewards him with a big smile “Trust me, you’re going to look amazing _amor_ ” 

“Do what you want” That’s all he needs before he gets to work. 

Lance nudges Keith down his level (no he’s not shorter than his boyfriend, he refuses to admit it) and combs through the raven hair. Carefully he separates it into three neat strands and with quick fingers starts twisting them into each other. His boyfriend continues humming, eyes closed once more and a content smile on his face. 

He fights the urge to drop a kiss on his cheek and continues with his work. Pulling, twisting and switching. He repeats and repeats until he’s run out of hair to work with. Swiftly he takes the black band and ties down the remaining free strands. Lance takes a few steps back and now he presses in a quick kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek.

“All done sweetheart!” 

Keith opens his eyes and carefully touches the braid that adorns his head. Lance produly smiles and puffs his chest out for his boyfriend. 

“Pretty gorgeous right?” He gloats, crossing his arms over his chest “I’d like to say it’s a masterpiece”

His boyfriend only nods, a soft pink blush darkening his cheeks. The sight makes Lance almost melt into the sand. Keith turns and finally he can properly marvel at his braid. Honestly he doesn’t know why he ever thought long hair looked bad on guys, his younger self was completely wrong. 

“Scratch that, you’re the gorgeous one babe” He giggles at Keith’s flustered face before pressing another kiss to his cheek “Come on, we have to go back to the party”

“The party can wait” His boyfriend grumbles in protest, but doesn’t hesitate to lace their fingers together as the walk right back to the reception. 

The two of them make their way out of the beach and back to the hotel, the music and chattering reaching their ears as they got closer and closer. Lance can make out Hunk’s booming voice above everyone else’s, orders and commands flying from one side of the kitchen to the other. They get closer and quietly the two of them reach the party. 

There’s a white satin tent over their heads, small flickering Christmas lights lighting every single crevice and spot with a soft amber glow. Small chandeliers hang from the tent, illuminating most of the reception, white wooden tables and chairs arranged in circles, the dance floor right by the center. 

It’s a sea of white, decorated with flowers of every shape and color, engulfing the whole space with a sweet deep aroma. His eyes twinkle in fascination. He had arranged most of the decoration for both the reception and the venue but this felt like something else. 

This was really happening. 

Soft violins and a piano reach his ears, the music vibrating all through the party as the guests keep coming up and up, seating themselves at their designated table, leaving a large rectangle table at the front for the two grooms. 

“There you are!” Pidge comes up next to them “We’ve been looking for you two!”

“Did you find Lance?” Hunk’s voice comes from the small made-up kitchen inside the tent “I need his help tasting the garlic knots!” 

“Keith I need you to practice your best man speech, in case something happens” Matt Holt appears right next to his sister, a small envelope between his hands “Also Lance, Romelle was looking for you. Something about-”

“This is why I didn’t want to come back” Keith grumbles between them, giving their joined hands a small squeeze “I don’t want to be separated”

“ _Ay amor_ ” His heart swells for his boyfriend, squeezing back his hand to reassure him. He turns and pecks him on the cheek, earning a gag from Pidge “We’ll be together after your speech remember? Once that’s over we’ll dance the night away” Keith pouts once again, earning from a giggle out of him “Well, I’ll dance the night away and you can watch. But we’ll be together, okay?” 

Keith sighs in defeat but still nods and honestly his boyfriend was such a baby sometimes. Lance gives his hand another squeeze. He’s about to let go when Keith laces their fingers once again and leans down towards him. As if on instinct he closes his eyes as they share a brief kiss. 

“Agh guys!” Pidge screeches behind them “Keep the PDA to a minimum!” 

“I think it’s really cute” Matt comments next to her, a dreamy sigh leaving his lips. 

They part from each other and then his boyfriend swoops in to drop a kiss to his forehead. Giddiness erupts inside of him, giggles escaping past his lips as he wraps Keith into a hug. The other man just goes with the flow, returning the embrace with the same fervor. 

“I’ll see you later” Lance whispers against his chest before leaning back “Okay?” 

“Okay” Keith nods and then they step away from each other. 

“Geez it’s not like you’re going to war or anything” The former Green Paladin grumbles under her breath, but the small smile on her lips betrays her “Come on, let’s get back to work!” 

“Aye aye Captain!” He gives her a mocking salute and runs away before she throws him one of her shoes. Lance gives Keith one last smile before sccurring off to find Hunk inside the small kitchen. He sees his boyfriend return that fond smile, before following after Matt Holt. 

The night was still young. 

 

* * *

 

“To the newlyweds!” 

“To the newlyweds!” 

The crowd erupts in cheers, glasses filled with champagne tinkling with each other. Lance laughs along everyone, clinking his cup with Hunk’s, his best friend already reduced to tears at the sight of Shiro and Curtis over by the groom’s table. Pidge sat right over on his left side, an empty chair between them as they waited for his Keith. 

All of the guests were now seated over by the designated tables, the food and drinks already being served as the speeches coming from Curtis’ family went on and on. Lance snickered at the sight of a very flustered Curtis as he returned his brother’s hug. He turns to look at Shiro, the man looking at his husband with such fondness that makes his heart skip a beat. 

“Keith is stiff as a board!” Romelle gasps seated right in front of him, pointing right at where his boyfriend is standing. Lance can’t help the giggle escaping past his lips as his eyes wander over to Shiro and then to his boyfriend right over by the small podium. 

It was true, the former Black Paladin had a murderous gaze stuck in his eyes, shoulders tense and mouth whispering something under his breath (surely cursing his brother over and over again). 

Lance could see the slight tremor in Keith’s fingers as he gripped the edge of the small card in his hands. He really wishes he could go over there and soothe him, or at least stand next to him to offer support, but even his boyfriend insisted he needed to do it alone. 

“He’s faced thousands of aliens in battle all of these years and he still can’t talk in public” Krolia dryly comments in their table, a playful smile over her lips. 

“Oh, he’s just shy Krolia!” Colleen playfully patts her arm, excitement radiating off from her face as her husband continues to ramble on and on with Matt about a new experiment “He’s been practicing every day, it’s going to turn out fine” 

“And now it’s time for the last speech!” Veronica’s voice echoes through the reception and Lance can feel the teasing grin on his sister’s face “Everyone welcome my soon to be brother in law, Keith Kogane!” 

“Veronica!” He yells, chair screeching against the floor, a red blush taking over his face. Everyone at his table laughs and he can faintly hear the cheering coming along from his own family and Acxa somewhere in the back. They’re out to get him! 

It’s drawn out by the series of cheers and claps coming from the rest of the guests. Grumbling under his breath Lance is forced to sit back down, cheeks red and his marks already glowing a light blue. Pidge cackles beside him, Hunk chuckling alongside her as he turns to the front. 

Lance turns to the podium too, eyes landing right over Keith.

His boyfriend stands right over by the microphone, nerves still visible and a pink blush over his cheeks. That only works to make him even more flustered than before. Nevertheless, Lance keeps his gaze stuck on him, encouragement filling him up and hoping it reaches Keith in some way or another. 

The former Black Paladin looks up from the cards, deep breaths coming out of his mouth and his eyes instantly find Lance’s. He’s stunned, gaze stuck on his boyfriend and it’s like that single moment is enough to encourage Keith. 

“Hello” He coughs into the mic, straightening up his back and squaring his shoulders. Lance keeps looking, a smile stretching over his lips “I’m Keith and I fly the Black Lion”

Fucking forget it. 

“Oh no” Pidge snickers and a retort is already leaving his mouth. 

“Don’t you dare make fun of him! He’s nervous!” 

“O-Oh! No-no, I’m sorry! I-I used to fly the Black Lion!” Keith gulps, the nervousness appearing once again over his features. Lance tries shoving Pidge out of the way, curses leaving his mouth over and over again “The Black Lion that was Shiro’s and then passed along to me when he went missing in space! But then we got him back! Or well, we thought we did-”

“Oh my god” Hunk starts giggling as well, stopping just as Lance shoots him a murderous glare. 

“-Turns out it was just a clone of himself controlled by the Galra” His boyfriend rambles on, avoiding everyone’s eyes as he continues “But the real Shiro was stuck on the Quintessence inside the Black Lion-”

“ _Dios mío_ ” Lance moans into his hands, ignoring the futile attempts to silence Pidge. He turns back to look at the podium. Keith is still rambling about their adventures in space and honestly that’s not his speech at all! He’s been practicing every day for months, he can do it! He stands up from his seat and starts waving his hands up in the air. 

Hunk is full out laughing right now next to him, Pidge still snickering into the table, but he ignores them. He tries getting Keith’s attention, waving and waving but the man in question keeps his eyes glued to the ceiling. 

“Keith!” 

That finally seems to snap his boyfriend’s attention away from the tent’s ceiling. His indigo eyes snap right over to him, blush deepening the moment his mind catches up to everything that’s happened. Lance waves his hands over again, _Don’t freak out! Don’t freak out!_ His mind screams and hopes the message is received. 

“You can do this!” He whispers, hoping the encouragement flows through his words and reaches Keith “I love you!” 

He doesn’t think twice of the words uttered by him, until a second passes by. His table erupts in coos and ‘aw’s over and over again and honestly he’s going to blow off steam at this point by his ears. His marks are surely bright white now from the embarrassment flowing out of him. 

All of that goes out of the window the moment he sees Keith’s blinding smile directed at him. 

‘I love you too’ His boyfriend mouths his back. 

Everything turns to mush, heart racing along his chest as he sees the confident smile his boyfriend gives him in exchange. The memory of Keith as their Black Paladin surfaces his mind and it leaves him with goosebumps all over his arms. 

“Sorry about that-t-” The former Black Paladin stutters, eyes darting back towards the crowd and then quickly to the cards on his hands “I’m really nervous about this as you can see” Laughter erupts around the tent and Lance can even see the fond smile pulling at Shiro’s lips “Sorry Shiro you should’ve known this would happen” 

“I was aware of that” The man snickers against his husband, the crowd laughing once more. 

“Anyways” Keith gives one last look at the cards, before turning his eyes towards the newlyweds, a shy smile over his lips “Ever since you told me you wanted me to be your best man I’ve been racking my brain for a good speech. For finding the right words to thank you for everything you’ve done for me up until now. And for showing you how much I appreciate you in my life” 

Lance feels a knot over by his throat, unable to speak any further as he continues to look at Keith. There’s a hush of silence among the crowd before Keith speaks up once again. 

“I’m sure not many of you know this, but the first time we met I stole Shiro’s car” There’s a mix of shock and laughter among the guests “One second I was flying the simulation and the next I was detained. I thought for sure Shiro would only revoke my opportunity to attend the Garrison. Strangely enough it was the complete opposite.”

“Shiro took me in. We lived together once I enrolled in the Garrison and he was the very first friend I had in a long time. I didn’t know how to communicate or even accept anyone in my life and Shiro never pushed me. Never forced me into anything. He was very patient with me even when he had his own set of troubles to deal with” 

Lance hears Hunk sniffing beside him and honestly he’s not very far from that too. 

“I was a very problematic kid” His boyfriend jokes and Lance feels that stab in his heart once more “I didn’t want to listen, always breaking the rules, getting into trouble. But Shiro never hesitated into lending a hand. He was always there for me even when I wasn’t there for him.”

“Time passed and soon enough we found ourselves launched into space along with the other Voltron members” There’s a slight cheer for the rest but otherwise it’s silent “And Shiro took the mantle of our leader. He cared for us and helped us in any way he could, never complaining about it. We went through a lot of shit up in space as you all know and never once did Shiro lose faith in any of us”

Keith fully turns to Shiro, an easy smile over his lips as he directly speaks to the man. 

“You were the first person to trust me and words will never be enough for how grateful I am for everything you’ve done for me. Shiro you’re the only reason I’m even standing here with all of you around. Who knows what could’ve happened if I never met you” He laughs into the mic “I’ll never stop thanking you for all that you’ve done. Not just for me, but for everyone you’ve met”

“I can only vouch for everyone and say that you deserve every bit of happiness and love that you’ve given tenfold. You give so much from yourself and never expect anything in return. You’re an amazing leader, colleague, friend and brother” Lance feels the tears slipping past his cheeks, Hunk fully sobbing right next to him. 

“I love you and I wish you all the happiness in the world” 

“And Curtis...if you ever think about hurting Shiro, know that there will be four angry paladins and a space princess haunting you down” Keith smirks and raises up his glass “To Shiro and Curits!” 

“To Shiro and Curtis!” 

The shout is a mix between laughs and sobs among the crowd, Lance being the second half. Hunk is still crying over the napkin in his lap, Pidge clapping alongside everyone else and he finds himself looking at his boyfriend being hugged to death by a sobbing Shiro. His heart melts at the sight and honestly a fresh wave of tears comes by.

Keith gives his brother one last pat, before walking right back to their table, brushing away a few stray tears from his eyes. Lance moves without thinking, standing up from his seat and meeting his boyfriend halfway to their table. He meets him with a big teary smile and wraps him up into a big hug. 

The former Black Paladin goes in wordlessly, furrowing his face into his neck and wrappings his toned arms around his waist. Lance rubs small circles in his back, pressing a soft kiss to the crown of his hair, already on his tip-toes to do so.

“You were wonderful _amor_ ” He whispers against his skin, trying to quell the small sobs ripping out of Keith “It was beautiful” 

His boyfriend tightens his hold over him and Lance feels his own tears coming back to life once more. 

“Thank you” Keith’s voice is muffled against his skin and then a laugh “I messed up at the beginning though” 

“I thought it was cute” 

“You didn’t!” 

“ _Pidge no one asked your opinion!_ ” 

 

* * *

 

The party continued just like that, someone would get up and give their speech, they would celebrate another toast as the rest of the guests continued eating their dinner. Lance moaned in delight at the sight of the garlic knots, proudly devouring a whole plate before Keith pushed them away. The food was delicious and he praised Hunk at every bite he took. 

The chatter quiets down just as the lights point towards the dance floor at the center. A soft mix of purple and pink overtakes the reception and everyone turns towards it, eyes drawn towards the newlyweds. Shiro and Curtis descend from their table, hand in hand as a soft violin starts playing and the two of them start dancing. 

Lance cheers along with everyone as Shiro and his husband hold on to each other, swaying to the rhythm of the music, face bright as the sun as they looked at each other. Their former leader is practically glowing with happiness just as he continues to look at Curtis, the same expression over his husband’s face. 

They continue slow dancing and then Shiro is twirling Curtis around his arms and the crowd erupts into applause and cheers once again. Flashes go off just as the grooms kiss each other a couple of times before the music changes once more. 

This time though it’s a much more fast paced song that the last one. And just like that Shiro and Curtis give each other one last kiss before parting away and dance to the beat. He laughs and cheers, already taking a million photos with his cell as the grooms begin dancing a choreography. 

It was so silly and funny but Lance could see the love between them. 

The newlyweds danced and twirled around the dance floor just as their routine ended with Shiro dipping Curtis almost to the _fucking_ floor. He cheered along with everyone as the song ended and now the music changed once more. 

To the Macarena. 

“Oh my god!” Lance screeched, already up from his seat and pulling at Hunk’s arm “We have to dance this! Veronica come on!” He waved at his family and soon enough the whole McClains were scrambling off their seats to take over the dance floor. 

“Let’s see if I still remember the moves!” Hunk laughs right next to him as he stands. Lance shoots him a wicked grin, excitement bubbling up inside of him. And as if on cue, he turns to his boyfriend. 

“No”

“Aw come on Keith!” He whines, already detaching himself from Hunk and moving towards the other man. His boyfriend rolls his eyes, but a fond smile still over his lips “Just this song! Please!” 

“I don’t know the moves love” He easily responds, detaching Lance’s hold on his arm. He pouts at that, already protesting before Keith rises from his seat to plant a small kiss on his cheek. Lance blinks up at him “I’ll dance with you later”

“Promise?” He asks, but he doesn’t even need to. 

Keith sticks to his words through and through. 

“Promise” 

Lance gives him an excited grin and gives both of his cheeks a kiss, before dragging Hunk towards the dance floor, the former Yellow Paladin laughing as they went. He saw Veronica pulling on Acxa’s hand to join her on the dance floor but the Galra was obviously against the idea. 

Laughing he joined his family and soon enough found himself dancing to the rhythm. 

Seconds, minutes, hours passed just like that.

He found himself dancing to every single song they played, laughing and cheering along with the rest of the guests. Lance didn’t even register his tired feet as he kept dancing and dancing. Hunk lasted for around an hour before needing to rest once again and check on the dessert. Soon enough Lance found himself dancing along with Matt Holt and Romelle, the latter trying to teach them some Altean dance moves. 

He was laughing so much when both him and Matt found themselves lying on their butts after trying the first move. 

Soon enough he was crowded against his family, both Rachel and Veronica making him drop to the _fucking floor_ as they grinded down and down. God their mother was just mortified and his father only laughed along. He tried looking for Keith countless of times in the crowd, but he was unable to find him. 

He pouted but kept on dancing. 

And that occurred again.

And again. 

Time passed in a fly and then he was dancing along with the MFE pilots, the members chanting at Ina to take another shot of tequila. He cheered along with them, him and Rizavi being the loudest ones as the blonde managed to take another one without toppling to the floor. 

James grumbled in exasperation, trying to separate his teammate from the liquor bottle, but Ina was like a koala, refusing to let go. He would’ve been a bit worried if he wasn’t as tipsy as them.

He had lost count after the seventh shot. 

“She’s gonna topple over Griffin” Kinkade mutters beside him, an easy and open smile over his lips. Honestly it’s the first time, he’s seen the guy so relaxed. 

“Another! Another!” Rizavi shouted over the music, and that seemed only to encourage Ina even further. The girl jumped and soon found herself clinging to Griffin’s neck, bottle still in hand. James blushed a thousand suns as he tried to pry away the girl from his arms. 

“Ina you’re gonna fall!” Griffin screeches, still trying to pull the girl upwards but it was a losing battle. Ina continues to topple over and over, not caring the tiniest about the commotion. 

Lance laughs, tears almost streaming down his eyes as he tries to right himself. And just like that, his feet slip beneath him and if it weren’t for Kinkade he would’ve crashed right onto the floor. 

“Careful we don’t want another injured person” He replies, already helping him straighten up. 

“Ah you saved me Kinkade!” He smiles a set of giggles already slipping past his lips as the two of them stand. He’s about to topple once more, but Ryan places another hand to his shoulder, making him giggle once more. 

“No more drinks for you then”

“Aw no fair!” He whines “I’m perfectly fine!”

“Yeah no, I don’t want to deal with your angry boyfriend” Kinkade dryly comments, already turning to Griffin “You’ve seen Kogane around here?”

“He was at Veronica’s table just now!” James shouts over the blaring music, prying Ina’s hands away from the tequila bottle “I don’t know where he went”

“I want to see Keithhhhhh!” He melts into Kinkade’s hold, an easy grin taking over his lips as he thinks about his boyfriend “ _I reeeeeeeeeally want to see Keithhhhhh!_ ”

“Jesus, calm down I’m taking you to him” Ryan’s voice sounds so far away and distant. Soon enough Lance finds himself seated over by his family’s table. Both Marco and Luis have huge grins on their faces and wait where they taking photos? 

“ _Ay mijo_ , you know that don’t hold well with tequila!” His mother’s voice reprimands him, making him squirm in his seat. He hears snickers all around, and then a hand is rubbing soothing circles over his back. He looks up and there’s Veronica, placing a huge glass of water and some aspirins in front of him, Acxa not far behind. 

“Drink up _menso_ ” She snickers and Lance wastes no time to gulp down the whole vase, propping up the medicine as well. Everything is twirling around him, a groan escaping past his lips as he leans down onto the table. 

He closes his eyes, ignoring the comments and laughs around him and god he really wants to sleep. 

But above all else. 

He _really_ wants to see Keith.

“Do you know where my boyfriend is?” He peeks his eyes open and directs the question to Veronica. At the mention of the man, her smile pulls up into a shit-eating grin, eyes full of mirth and honestly that was always terrifying. Acxa gives her a small pat on the back.

“Stop it, you’re going to scare him” The Galra reprimands his sister, before turning to him “He’s talking with Shiro and Krolia over by your table”

“What?” He whips his head up and then everything turns. Oh wow that was way too fast for him “Did something happen? Is he okay?” 

“Calm down you big oaf” Rachel pipes up from her seat, taking a sip from her water “He’s fine, he just needs to discuss some... _important matters_ ” 

Everyone at the table seemed to be onto something. Just as those words left Rachel’s mouth, everyone erupted into snickers all over again, sharing smiles and knowing looks between each other. Lance frowns, already feeling something was not right.

“Hey what’s that all about?” He pouts, his head a bit clearer than before. Clear enough for him to turn without needing to lie down for forty five minutes. Veronica gives him another pat, her grin still plastered over her lips. He turns to her girlfriend only to see her with a small smile as well on her lips.

Something was definitely up.

“You’re planning something” He narrows his eyes at them “You’re planning something and I’m not liking it one bit” 

“Oh no, we’re not the ones doing it” Marco says, earning a shove from Luis. 

“No, no, no. We’re just waiting for _it_ ” Rachel comments.

“ _Dejen a su hermano!_ ” His mother pipes up, but there’s a smile over her face as well “ _Ya se enterará_ ”

 _Enterar? Enterarme de que?_ He thinks and before he can open his mouth again he’s interrupted. 

“Please tell me you’re not drunk”

Lance turns and there’s Keith standing right in front of him, a small frown over his face as he looks at him. His lips pull up into a bright smile, everything turning into mush, worries evaporating in a second. 

“Keith!” He exclaims, earning a series of chuckles from his family “Love of my life, you’ve come back to me!” 

“I’m here” His boyfriend’s frown disappears a bit, a relaxed smile taking over his lips. He moves closer to him, extending his hand towards him. Lance takes it wordlessly “Kinkade went looking for me. Something about you wanting to see me?” 

“I missed you!” Lance clutches his boyfriend’s hand to his chest “I haven’t seen you in so long, where were you?” 

“Sorry love” Keith laughs at his antics, the displeasure gone from his features being replaced with complete fondness in his tone “There were some things I needed to discuss” 

“All of you are keeping secrets from me I swear”

His family snickers at him and just before someone could comment, the music slows down almost immediately. 

The fast paced songs are replaced by soft, slow ballads and soon enough the people scatter away from the dance floor. Lance watches with wide eyes as the only ones left are couples embracing each other and swaying to the beat of the music. He sees Shiro and Curtis right over the center, bright and beautiful smiles on their faces. 

“Let’s go _corazón!_ ”

Veronica takes Acxa’s hands and drags her away from their table, practically running towards the dance floor as the alien protested behind her. His mother and father soon join the rest of the couples by the center. He gives them a soft smile and before he can even say something to Keith- 

“You want to dance?” 

There’s a blush spread over Keith’s cheeks and he can see the light trembling of his hands. But all of that is completely unimportant at the sight of his boyfriend’s face. His lips are pulled up into a shy smile, indigo eyes twinkling and full of love as he looks back at Lance. 

He can’t find the words, mind a muddled mess as he continues looking at Keith. Lance returns the smile and carefully stands up from his seat. He’s pulled into his boyfriend’s chest, their hands linked with each other and he can’t help the small giggle tumbling out of his lips at the proximity between the two of them. 

It’s almost non-existent. 

“I thought you didn’t like to dance” He giggles once again as Keith pulls them both towards the dance floor. He can hear Rachel and Marco’s cheers at his back but he completely ignores them.  

“I don’t” His boyfriend replies and soon enough they are swarmed by people from both sides, everyone slow dancing to the song. Keith turns to him, the light blush still present on his lips as he carefully wraps his free arm around Lance’s waist. 

They are pressed closer together, feet moving in synchrony despite Keith’s jittering nerves. Lance chuckles, arm resting across his boyfriend’s shoulder as they continue looking at each other. The soft purples and pinks glowed against Keith’s smooth skin, eyes glittering more than usual at their dance. 

It was truly breath-taking. 

“So what made you change your opinion?” Lance asks over the music, swaying alongside his partner. 

“You” 

The response startles him, his feet almost tripping at the words. Keith laughs against his ear, pulling him even closer towards him. Lance looks up and finds beautiful indigo eyes staring right back at him. 

Chest to chest, nose to nose.

“You like dancing” Keith smoothly replies once again and god he’s turning Lance into a flustered mush at the confession.

“Ugh you’re gonna be the death of me Kogane” He whines and buries his head just over his boyfriend’s chest. Swiftly he lets go of his hand and snuggles both arms around his neck, the two of them closer than before. Keith chuckles once again as he slowly nestles his arms around his waist. 

Their bodies continue to sway around the music, feet barely moving from one side to the other as they continued to bask in each other’s presence. Lance feels Keith’s steady heartbeat underneath all of that clothing, counting each beat and breath as they danced. Neither speak, breathing in the happy moment and just basking in each other’s presence. 

_Will it be like this when I...?_

That single question has been plaguing Lance’s mind ever since he started helping Shiro’s wedding. The constant thought, or possibility, of him and Keith in that same situation. 

They’ve made some comments here and there (mostly from his part) but they’ve never properly talked about it. Whenever the topic came around, neither would openly talk about it. 

Still he wonders. 

_Will it be like this when I marry Keith?_

For Lance doesn’t think of anyone else beside him but the man dancing right with him. There’s no one after him and he can’t think of a future where he’s not with his boyfriend. Even if they fight (and god-forbid break up) he doesn’t want anyone else but him. 

He’s never been so sure about anything in his life. 

Slowly he peeks up to look at Keith. His defined jaw, pearl skin, perfect eyebrows and beautiful eyes. But Lance has always known that his boyfriend was handsome. No, it’s much more than that. Keith’s selflessness, his generosity, honesty and passion towards every single thing around his life. Lance feels so lucky to be part of that. To be part of his life. 

He never wants to part away from him. 

Just as if on cue, Keith looks down and their eyes meet each other. He’s stunned for a second before his lips pull up into a small smile. Lance can’t help his own grin, as he furrows even closer to his boyfriend’s touch. 

“Do I have something on my face?” There’s amusement dripping out of his boyfriend’s voice and he can’t help the small laugh out of his. 

“Nah” His grin widens “I was just thinking about our own wedding” 

Keith sputters, visibly shaken, making the two of them almost topple over the floor. A few other couples shoot them a mix between confused and amused stares, as the two of them try to straighten up. Lance is laughing too much, his stomach almost hurting while his boyfriend visibly pouts. 

They go back to their original position, hands clasped, Keith’s arm around his waist and Lance’s resting over his shoulder. He’s still shaking with a few giggles escaping his lips, eyes twinkling as they look up at Keith, who’s still pouting.

“Sorry babe” He apologizes, trying to ignore that sinking feeling in his stomach. _You just surprised him, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to marry you_ His voice explains it logically but for some reason his heart just doesn’t listen. 

“You don’t look sorry at all” Keith dryly comments, eyes darting around the dance floor as if looking for something else. That sinking feeling just continues, a fear so big gripping at his heart and he feels he might slip up again.

Lance tries laughing again, but he knows it sounds way too forced. Even Keith looks down at him, a questioning gaze already settling in. He looks away and instead focuses on their joined hands as they continue swaying. 

“Is something wrong?” Keith leans down to whisper in his ear, the proximity sending chills down his spine even after all this time. 

“I was just thinking” Lance sighs, eyes still not meeting his boyfriend’s. Here he was in a beautiful party and his mind was just up and thinking unnecessary things “It’s nothing, don’t worry”

“It’s obviously something if it’s bothering you” His eyes finally meet Keith’s and just like that his boyfriend is dragging him away from the dance floor. 

He wants to protest, but he goes without a word after his boyfriend.

Keith doesn’t stop walking, looking straight ahead and avoiding anyone’s prying eyes. They both walk out of the reception earning them a few curious glances from some guests. Lance sees Hunk and Pidge’s questioning gaze and he can only shrug in response as the two of them walk further and further away from the party. 

Lance doesn’t even know where they are going, the lights of the reception getting dimmer and dimmer as they walk around. The hotel where the wedding was being held was a pretty little old thing here in Varadero. It was one of the oldest buildings in town, somehow managing to survive the Galra attack years back. 

Bamboos and palm trees rested all over the place, red hibiscus decorating their small bushes and green vined walls. Small lanterns lit up the old stone walkway, leading them far away from the wedding and more towards the hotel’s suites. A small blush spreads over his cheeks as they near towards the beach’s cottages with an amazing view towards the beach. 

“W-Wait Keith” He stammers, a flush taking over his cheeks. It wasn’t like they’ve never done anything before (no they’ve done plenty in their two years of relationship thank you very much) but this felt a bit different. Mostly since all of their relatives and colleagues were staying in the same hotel “Where are we going exactly? We can-”

Keith stops and turns to look at him. There’s this look over his gaze that Lance can’t decipher and leaves him speechless. He’s about to speak again, ask him what was wrong before his boyfriend pulls him closer and envelops him in a hug. 

A small gasp leaves his mouth, but instantly reciprocates the hold, fiercely wrapping his arms around Keith’s waist. They stay like that, holding onto each other and not saying a word. Lance can faintly hear the music coming from the party, but he only concentrates on Keith’s breathing. 

“Will you tell me what’s wrong?” 

His boyfriend asks in such a small voice and something in Lance breaks. He pulls deeper into his boyfriend’s chest, inhaling his alluring scent before rubbing small circles on his back. 

“You will probably think it’s stupid” He says, ignoring Keith’s annoyed huff. 

“That doesn’t matter” His boyfriend pulls away from their embrace, just enough for their eyes to meet. Their foreheads connect and Lance draws in a shuddering breath “I don’t care if you think it’s stupid or not. If it’s bothering you, _tell me_ ”

Lance can’t look away from the determination in those indigo eyes. They’re swallowing him up and up, a storm brewing past them. Carefully he places a shaking hand over Keith’s scar, right by his cheek. His boyfriend hardly flinches, eyes stuck on him. 

“It’s just...” He draws in a shuddering breath “Back when we were dancing, you remember right?”

Keith only nods in response. Lance sighs, gathering up some courage inside of him to just get the words out of him. _He’ll make fun of you!_ One side screams and then _Just tell him!_  

It was a complete mess. 

His boyfriend takes hold of his hand, the one resting over his cheek and practically nuzzles into it. Keith drops a small kiss to his wrist and it’s making Lance melt all over again. 

“I told you...” Another breath leaves him “I told you I was thinking about our wedding and it was the truth” 

He can’t bear to look at Keith and shuts his eyes. 

“And you didn’t say anything back” 

There’s a silence between the two, neither brave enough to break it. Lance continues to hear the music coming from the reception but he keeps his eyes closed. _This was so stupid, you shouldn’t have said anything!_ He ranted over and over again. But it was too late to take it back.

A small chuckle slips out of his boyfriend’s mouth and that makes him snap his eyes open to look at him. 

Keith continues to look at him, adoration and fondness deep into his eyes. It makes his knees weak and in turn he clutches to his boyfriend’s body even harder. Another chuckles leaves Keith’s mouth at his expression and then he’s leaning down and presses a soft kiss to his lips. 

Lance goes in without complaints, melting into his boyfriend’s arms immediately. He cradles the other man’s face as the kiss deepens and feels the familiar itch of the marks glowing full on force. This only seems to encourage Keith even further, fully circling his arms over his waist. 

A small moan rips out from him at the intensity of their kiss, but it’s only muffled by his boyfriend’s lips on his once more. They kiss and kiss and kiss. It’s a never ending cycle as the two of them keep pulling on each other. Lance can’t breathe, his heart jumping out of his chest and it’s like the first time they connected lips all over again.

He parts away from Keith and watches with amusement as his boyfriend trails after him, eyes half closed and mouth searching his. Lance pants, arousal deep into his bones as the hold over his waist tightens. He only continues to hold onto Keith’s shoulders in response. 

“If you think I don’t want to marry you after this, you’re not paying attention” 

Everything stills around him and once again he finds himself looking up at those mesmerizing indigo eyes. 

“You really want to?” Lance is barely able to speak, voice trembling at each syllable “You really want to marry me?” 

“Yes” Keith answers without a hint of remorse, hesitation, anything. Honesty drips from his words and it’s eating him up, igniting a love so deep within his heart. _I love him, I love him, Lo amo_ “I’ve wanted to marry you since the day we started dating” 

He remembers that night with utmost clarity. How they tangled up in each other the moment Keith returned alive and in one piece from that horrible mission. How Lance cried at the sight of the man before him, his heart breaking at the possibility of never seeing him again. How the two of them kissed and kissed under the stars, their lips never straying from each other. 

How could he forget such day. 

“You just surprised me” Keith pulls him back to the conversation, a smile breaking past his lips and this one is so foreign to him. Lance has known the former Black Paladin for a long time and he’s never seen such a loving smile on his face. Butterflies erupt in his chest just at the sight, everything muddling together and mixing.

“We were thinking the same thing after all” 

Lance feels everything on his world spinning, going out of axis and tumbling over and over. The only constant, the only center between everything was the man standing before him. 

_Keith._

“I want to marry you too Keith” His voice comes out meek, a blush taking over his face and marks glowing white “I’ve wanted it for a long time”

“Yeah?” Keith places a warm hand over his cheek and Lance nuzzles into it. 

“I want nothing more in life than to be married to you” He softly murmurs against the two. Words only meant to be shared between them and no one else. Confessions tumble one after the other and Lance keeps them flowing “I want to wake up next to you in bed. I want to live together with you, share every single thing in our home. I want to get to know you even more. Your mannerisms, your weird sleeping rituals, I don’t know Keith”

He takes a deep breath.

“I just want to be with you”

Lance looks up at Keith, a smile already breaking through.

“Will you stay with me?” 

Keith doesn’t waste a second to connect their lips together once more. 

This kiss is unlike any other.

It’s nothing that Lance has experienced before in his life, heat flaring up inside of him in an instant. Lance finds himself pressed up against a palm tree, their lips still connected as Keith cages him in. It’s hot and heavy, pleasure trailing up all the way from his feet to his fingers. _More, more, more, please_ his mind chants over and over again. 

He throws his arms around Keith, hands roaming between his broad back and messy braid. His hands itch, the need to touch his boyfriend’s skin is too great, too much to not do something about it. Lance tries parting away, maybe even suggesting that they should make use of that nearby suite, but Keith follows after him, their lips meeting in a kiss over and over again.

It’s intoxicating and addicting, the push and pull between their lips, the two of them pressed close against each other. Lance never wants to part away from Keith. Never, never, never. 

The need to breathe becomes all too great for him and Lance pushes away from his boyfriend a loud pop echoing around them. He’s panting, out of breath and legs all jittery. It feels like too much and not enough at the same time. Keith’s chest heaves with each breath, desire pooling behind his eyes. 

His boyfriend leans down and slowly starts racking up his arms, trailing every muscle on his back and chest. Lance shivers against him, tightly holding onto the man’s shoulders for support, legs already shaking. It’s hot, too hot, the heat of Varadero suffocating him in a matter of seconds. 

He moans loud and clear at the touch of Keith’s hands right over his ass. 

“K-Keith” He pants, embarrassment flooding inside of him at the thought of someone passing by. God forbid his family, Krolia, _his mom_ seeing them in this position. Lance tries to part away from Keith, but his boyfriend is persistent, latching onto his neck and pulling him closer “Keith-h someone’s going to-to find us like this!”

Indigo eyes look up to meet his. Before he could open his mouth again, his boyfriend licks and kisses right over his earlobe. Another moan is ripped out of him, as he feels the smirk against his skin. He presses back onto the tree, Keith following right after and in a swift motion he’s picking him up. 

Lance yelps, holding onto his boyfriend for dear life, legs quickly wrapping around his waist and arms holding to his neck. The palm tree against his back is rough and hard, but he could care less just as Keith leans in for another kiss. 

He can’t help the shivers racking around his body, Keith’s arms securely wrapped around his ass as they keep kissing and kissing. Lance grinds down onto his boyfriend, causing him to groan. There’s a significant tent over the man’s hips (not like he’s any different) and he can’t help but to repeat the same action once more. 

“ _Lance_ ” Keith moans between kisses, riling him up like nothing else. His back is pressed against the tree even harder, legs drawing his boyfriend closer than before. He wants to touch his bare skin, nothing else between them. Keith grinds upwards and he’s a mess. 

“K-Keithhhh” He moans, trying to quiet down his whimpers “Hah, p-please! Not-Not h-here!”

His boyfriend looks up and slowly comes to a stop. Lance lets out a whimper, heart hammering against his chest as he tries to regain his breath. He holds onto Keith’s shoulders for dear life as the man carefully lowers him to the ground. His legs feel all wobbly the moment they touch the floor and if it weren’t for his boyfriend he would toppled right on his ass. 

A small chuckles leaves his lips as Keith steadies him against the tree on his back. Lance furrows deep against the man’s neck, his breathing finally evening out. He can feel his boyfriend’s heart jumping up and down in his chest, bringing a sense of comfort to him. 

“Sorry” Keith whispers, voice all rough and raspy. It sends shivers down his spine and he can’t wait to continue in his boyfriend’s room “Was that too much?” 

Lance leans back, a bit dizzy as he looks up at the boy right in front of him.

“N-No, it was good” He blushes even more, wanting nothing but to tuck himself against Keith once more. But he can’t look away from those indigo eyes “I-Can we, maybe continue s-somewhere more private? Please”

Keith gives him a sweet smile and gives him a quick chaste kiss to his lips. 

“Whatever you want sweetheart” 

The pet name sends his heart into overdrive, his lips pulling into a smile. His boyfriend laces their hands together as he slowly pulls him towards the cottage the walkaway. Lance can still feel slight tremors going up and down his legs, with each step leaning more and more onto Keith. His boyfriend gives his hand a slight squeeze as they stop right by the entrance. 

Keith draws out a small key from his suit’s pockets and opens the door without problem. 

And just like that Lance is pulled inside. 

 

* * *

 

Sunlight streams through the window, a breeze rousing him up, making Lance pull the covers even closer to his body. He furrows deep into the pillow, refusing to wake up, it was way too early for these things. There’s a small laugh coming next to him and he ignores it, relishing in the warmth the other person provides him. 

“Good morning sweetheart”

Keith’s angelical voice yanks him out of his slumber. He shifts a bit on the bed, still clutching to the covers as he slowly blinks his eyes open. Sure enough, his boyfriend is lying right next to him, head propped up on his hand and a smug smile over his lips. 

Lance stutters, sleepiness still clinging to him, and blushes in embarrassment. He pulls the covers even higher, covering his naked (and very bitten) chest. That only seems to amuse the former Black Paladin even more, chuckles erupting past his lips. 

“I take it you slept well?”

“You know I did” Lance groans under his breath, flushing even more at the question. Images of their previous night filter his mind and god he can feel his cheeks heating up instantly. 

“What are you thinking about?” Keith asks, an innocent tone to his voice but Lance knows better. He looks up at his boyfriend and sure enough there’s a smirk over by his lips and a very vivid image of Keith on top of him resurfaces once again. 

“Like you don’t know” Grumbling, he clings to the covers even harder, hiding his cheeks behind the sheets. His boyfriend laughs in response, inching their bodies closer and then leaning down towards him. Their faces are inches apart and Lance finds it very hard not to kiss him. 

Swiftly he tilts up and soon enough their lips find each other again. 

The push and pull is slow and thoughtful, the two of them simply wanting to bask in each other’s presence. Keith sprawls on the bed right next to him, cradling his face between his hands. Lance smiles through the kiss, wrapping one of his arms around his boyfriend’s waist. 

They stay like that for who knows how long, sharing chaste and loving kisses between them as the sun slowly comes up and the morning drags by. 

Lance had planned another day full of activities for the two of them after both Shiro and Curtis left for their honeymoon. But right now in bed, wrapped up safely around Keith, his plans really don’t matter at all. He wants to stay in his boyfriend’s arms for the rest of the day. Scratch that, he wants to stay there for the rest of eternity. 

Small giggles pour past his lips as they continue kissing, and he can even feels Keith’s smile as well. They continue just like that, neither one wanting to stop until the need for air became to great. Slowly they part away from each other, panting and hearts drumming against each other. 

“You’re going to be the death of me” His boyfriend grumbles under his breath but the sweet smile on his face, betrays any kind of annoyance he might show.

“I think it’s quite the opposite _amor_ ” He giggles, furrowing deeper and deeper into Keith’s embrace. He can only hear the chuckles slipping past his boyfriend’s lips as they fall into silence, the two of them just enjoying their moment together. 

Lance can feel Keith’s heartbeat racing  as he turns to see every rise and fall of his chest. With careful fingers he starts tracing slow and delicate figures over his skin, relishing in their proximity and touch. Their legs are tangled up in each other, the covers messily thrown at their waists and as much as Lance wants to cover himself, he knows Keith loves looking at his body after a wonderful night.

He slowly moves his fingers over to his boyfriend’s back and feels the _new_ nail marks adorning his skin. 

“I didn’t hurt you too bad did I?” He whispers against his boyfriend’s chest, pouting at the laughter coming as a response. 

“You could never hurt me” Keith smoothly replies and fuck who thought him how to be this smooth. _You did you fucking dumbass_ , his mind says right back “Besides you know I love to make you feel good” 

“Ugh you are _the_ worst” Lance smiles and hugs his boyfriend tighter, earning another chuckle as a response. 

“I should be the one asking you if you’re okay” The former Black Paladin meets his eyes and presses a small kiss over his forehead “It was... _way_ more than usual”

Lance blushes at the sentence, marks drumming a soft blue against his skin. Both of them had kept their initial promise as the night went along but he never thought it would’ve been...that intense. His face heats up all over again just at the thought. 

“Honestly I’m not sure I can walk” He giggles just as Keith groans, a small frown overtaking his face “You know I’m not complaining at all, I’d loved to spend the day with you just lying in bed” 

“But you had plans for us and everything, didn’t you?” His boyfriend asks next to him and the regretful tone is picking at his heart. 

He turns, looking up right at his boyfriend. A small smile still appears over his lips at the sight of the other man’s frown, love and affection washing over him like nothing else. Lance cradles the former Black Paladin’s face between his hands, softly running his fingers over his hair. Keith instantly relaxes, almost purring at the sensation. 

“We still have another day here amor. And if you want to stay longer you know I won’t complain at all. You do need a vacation after all” Lance giggles at his boyfriend’s protests. He can almost see the displeasure in Kolivan’s face after stealing his favorite soldier (even if he doesn’t say it!) for another week. 

Keith leans back for a moment before diving back in, enclosing him in a deep hug. Lance laughs against his skin, returning the hug instantly. They stay silent until an idea sparks up in his mind. He doesn’t think and presses a series of raspberry kisses over his boyfriend’s chest, tickling at his sides. 

The response is immediate as his boyfriend throws his head back and laughs. Lance continues, moving his fingers over and over again ad Keith continues to laugh. The former Black Paladin is shaking with laughter, arms trying to push Lance away from his torso but ultimately failing. 

“L-Lance! Oh my god! S-Stop it, Lance!” 

He continues just like that, smile breaking at every touch and kiss he drops over his boyfriend’s chest. Lance parts away until Keith is practically crying from laughter, arms shaking as he tries to pry him away. Giggles come past his lips at the sight of his lover beneath him, panting and a blinding smile over his lips. 

Their eyes connect and one moment he’s looking down at Keith and the next his back is pressed against the mattress, Keith looming above him. 

“Oh oh oh!” He smiles, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s neck “Is this some sort of payback Mullet? You’re gonna punish me _amor?_ ” 

The former Black Paladin stops for a moment, eyes blinking as the words register in his mind. Once they do a mighty red blush take over his face, indigo eyes immediately darting away from Lance’s body. Laughter racks across his body at the man’s reaction, as if they’ve never said such things before. 

“You’re really going to be the death of me” Keith mutters and without grace he practically flops on top of Lance. He’s still laughing as he wraps himself around the man on top of him, combing his raven black hair with idle fingers. The former Black Paladin furrows deep into the embrace, leaving a trail of light kisses over his chest. 

Lance shivers at the touch, something stirring inside of him as he continues with his small ministrations. But if they continue like this, he’s pretty sure he won’t be able to walk for the next week. 

“I love you” He murmurs against Keith’s skin, dropping one, two, three kisses at the crown of his head. His hands make way over his boyfriend’s shoulders, slowly massaging them and leaving small trails in their wake “I love you so much” 

Keith looks up from his place over Lance’s stomach. Carefully he drops another slow kiss to his brown skin as a shiver travels down his spine at the action. His boyfriend smiles against him and slowly rises from his position in the bed.

“Don’t move” Lance nods in response as Keith sits up in the bed and swiftly picks up his discarded suit off the floor. He turns his eyes to see the trail of clothes, starting all the way from the entrance to the bed. Another blush takes over his cheek and then he looks towards his boyfriend. 

The man in question is already throwing his suit back onto the floor, looking right back at him with a soft look in his eyes. He returns it almost immediately, smile widening by the second. 

Keith abruptly stands from the bed only to go all the way to stand in front of him. 

And then kneels.

Something flips inside his belly. Heart stops all together and breath stutters around his throat. _There’s no way, no way, no way_ his mind echoes over and over again but if there’s something he’s certain about is that Keith never toys with his feelings. Never had and never will. 

Lance sits up on the bed, eyes never straying away from his boyfriend just as the man in question presents him with a small black box. He gasps, hands covering his mouth instantly and tears already springing over his eyes. 

Keith gives him a bigger smile in response. 

“I-I-” His boyfriend starts, voice high in emotion “I thought I could wait to give this to you in another occasion. On a proper proposal I guess-” A nervous laugh interrupts him. Lance can’t take away his eyes away from the man kneeling before him, taking in every feature and crease in his face “-But you make it extremely difficult. I can’t. I can’t do it”

“I wanted to give this to you ever since I got back. I’ve been carrying it with me for a while. Has kept me safe a lot of times” Lance tries holding back his tears the best he can, but they keep slipping and slipping, quiet sobs already tearing at his mouth. 

“The thought of never giving this to you terrifies me like no other. Keeps me up at night, every day that keeps passing over and over” Keith gulps, a heavy tone setting over them. He wants to reach out and comfort him; he would give everything in his power to prevent Keith from being in danger over and over again. His boyfriend locks eyes with him, a tremendous wave of love overpowers him like nothing else “There’s no way in hell that I don’t want to marry you Lance”

“ _Keith..._ ” Hiccups mix along with his sobs, a watery smile reaching over his lips as he tries and tries to wipe away the tears but nothing works. 

“I want to wake up next to you every single morning, just like today. I want to share every silly moment with you. I want to be next to you, in the good and the bad. I want to have a family with you. And I want to keep loving you Lance, in this life and the next ones to come” Keith’s voice breaks at the last sentence, a few tears also escaping past his eyes. 

And then with careful fingers, his boyfriend opens up the black box. 

“I want to stay with you”

His eyes water all over again at the sight of a single golden band resting at the center. Delicate spirals and carvings wraps around the ring like vines as a small amethyst rested at the center of the ring. _Red and Blue mix them together and you get purple right?_ He had said to Keith so many months ago. Though his boyfriend only gave him a kiss in return, he never thought it would come to this. 

“So Lance McClain...”Keith starts, his fingers slightly shaking as he takes in the ring in his hands “Will you marry me?” 

_Yes, yes, yes._

_That’s all I ever wanted._

“ _Yes_ ” He cries, tears and sobs finally spilling but never dimming his radiant smile “Yes, yes, yes! A thousand times yes!” 

Lance launches himself off the bed and right onto Keith’s arms, the two of them toppling over. He laughs and cries as he hugs the living daylights out of his boyfriend, as the two of them sprawl over the hard-wood floor. He can feel Keith’s laughter shaking his entire body as he returns the hug, kissing every single piece of skin he can get his lips into. 

He leans back and with utmost grace, takes Keith’s face in his hands and crashes their lips together. Their teeth clink with each other, pain echoing across their heads, but soon enough they’re wrapped up in each other unable to stop kissing and kissing. Their lips part only to meet once again, never stopping as the happiness bubbles inside their bodies. 

“I love you” Keith says between kisses and Lance can’t contain his smile as their lips connect again “I want to make you the happiest person there is”

“You already do” He replies, dropping one last kiss over his boyfriend’s lips before parting. Both of them are smiling, tears running down their cheeks and Lance can feel his marks happily glowing against his skin “Just by being here _mi amor_ ” 

“I can’t wait to marry you” God that sends his heart soaring into the sky. 

Carefully Keith takes his left hand in his, gives it a small kiss before slipping the golden band right over his ring finger. It was a perfect fit. Lance lets out a quiet laugh, twirling his hand in every direction just to look at the ring. 

He laughs once more and then turns to his boyfriend. No wait, to look at his _fianceé._

His soon to be husband. 

“Oh my god” He whispers between them “We’re going to get married”

“You’re damn right we are” Keith smiles, eyes crinkling with happiness and Lance can’t help the urge to kiss him, so he goes along with it. His fianceé (what a beautiful word) laughs against him, circling his waist and in an instant he’s up in the air. 

Lance shrieks, wrapping himself around Keith as the man shifts them over from the floor to the bed. He bounces for a moment against the mattress, just as Keith leans down to lay on top of him, arms still clinging to him. He complies without protest, immediately meeting him half-way for a kiss. 

“Lance Kogane” Keith murmurs against his skin, pressing kiss after kiss over his chest. He shivers at the thought, already dreaming and wishing for their life together to start “Keith McClain” 

Lance giggles, once again propping up his hands to mess around with his fianceé’s hair. Just as he moves, there’s a small glimpse of gold and he’s reminded of the engagement ring sitting over it. His heart tumbles all over again and he can’t wait to start their life together. 

“ _Te amo_ ” He says, meeting Keith’s lips over and over “ _Te amo con todo mi corazón_ ” 

They continue just like that, kissing and aching to be closer once again. Lance wraps himself against Keith, laughing and moaning against their small caresses. This happiness, it’s so much more than he’s ever dared to imagine. 

Everything he wants in this life and the others. 

He wants to meet Keith in every single moment. Wants every second, minute, hour to be wrapped up next to him. He wants to start a family with this wonderful person and raise a plethora of children together. Every single good and bad moment to share them with him. 

He wants Keith with everything he has. 

“Sweetheart” Keith kisses his lips “I’m here”

“I know”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i finally finished the epilogue!!! omg haha i was debating myself if i should write it or not but after debating it for days, i was basically like fuck it you know haha and here's the result. i thought it wouldn't be that long, maybe just a 5k at most but nope turns out i did double than that hahaha 
> 
> i hope you enjoyed reading this as much as i enjoyed writing it hahaha it was a rollercoaster of emotions for me and i feel kind of proud of myself for finishing it hahaha
> 
> anyways i hope you liked this! here's my [tumblr](https://castlebrenda.tumblr.com) if you want to hear me ramble more about voltron and other stuff. hope you have a great day!

**Author's Note:**

> so voltron ended and i finally managed to finish this first part. before s8 dropped i didn't think the producers could fuck up this badly after s7 but i guess i was wrong after all. i liked some parts of s8 i'm not gonna lie but what a mess of a stroyline it was. i withdrew from writing anything for a long time and i guess i found some motivation at reading a lot of amazing fix-it fics for s8. so here's my take on that. 
> 
> i'm working on the next chapter for this thing but for now, i hope you liked this! here's my [tumblr](https://castlebrenda.tumblr.com) if you want to hear me ramble more about voltron and other stuff. hope you have a great day!


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